64. Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

listened on Libby, borrowed from the library

narrated by Bernardo dePaula and Ariana Delawari

Unabridged audio (7:25)
2021
336 pgs.
Mid Grades CRF
Finished 6/17/2021
Goodreads rating: 3.83 - 5252 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: 2001 Ground Zero, 2018 Afghanistan

First line/s: "Brandon Chavez was in trouble."

My comments: This story is told in two different voices set 18 years apart.  One is Brendan Chavez, a nine-year-old boy who accompanies his dad to work on the morning of 9/11/2001 at the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center in New York City.  The second is that of a similarly aged girl in a secluded village in Afghanistan in 2018.  Because she unwittingly helps an injured American soldier, she puts her whole village in danger with the Taliban.  She hates Americans, because an American drone targeted her sister's wedding, killing that 16 year-old sister and many other villagers. That American soldier, "Taz," is actually Brandon. Her twin brother is so angry that much of the story is about him and his relationship with the Taliban.  This is a very powerful story.  There are a lot of intense scenes in the hour and a half that Brandon spends trying to figure out what is going on the the first tower, and then figuring out a way to get out.  His father dies.  It's intense and sad, as is much of the story that takes place in Afghanistan.  I'm not sure what age is would be appropriate for.  Somehow I don't thing my 11 year old grandson could handle it at all, but he's really sensitive.  I do know other fifth graders that could handle it.  There's a lengthy afterword by the author that explains all sorts of information about 9/11,  a fascinating, well-writtenprimer on the horrible day.

Goodreads synopsis:  In time for the 20th anniversary of 9/11, bestselling author Alan Gratz delivers a breathtaking, multifaceted, and resonant look at this singular event in US history -- and how it still impacts us today.
            It's September 11, 2001. Brandon, a 9-year-old boy, goes to work for the day with his dad . . . at the World Trade Center in New York City. When two planes hit the towers, Brandon and his father are trapped inside a fiery nightmare as terror and confusion swirl around them. Can they escape -- and what will the world be like when they do?
            In present-day Afghanistan, Reshmina is an 11-year-old girl who is used to growing up in the shadow of war, but she has dreams of peace and unity. When she ends up harboring a wounded young American soldier, she and her entire family are put in mortal danger. But Reshmina also learns something surprising about the roots of this endless war.
            With his trademark skill and insight, Alan Gratz delivers an action-packed and powerful story of two kids whose lives connect in unexpected ways, and reminds us how the past and present are always more linked than we think.

74. The Day of the Pelican - Katherine Paterson

for: Middle and Upper grades
Clarion (H/M), 2009
$16.00
146 pages
Rating: Incredibly mixed: I loved learning more about the plight of Albanians in Kosovo, there's so little we really know and understand. Some of the storytelling was terrific, but there were places where I know that kids will just put the book aside. And some of the storytelling was just that - a narrator telling a story. I was profoundly moved by the plight of this family. I do love Katherine Paterson's writing. This didn't seem like her extraordinary writing though. It was more....ordinary. I feel guilty and mean saying this about a powerful author. But it's the feeling I'm left with....

Meli's family goes through unbelievable cruelties in the three years between living a comfortable life in their home in Kosovo, then taking very few belongings and fleeing to a remote mountain KLA hideaway, then to live in a tiny farmhouse with uncle, aunt, elderly granny, cousin and her three kids (14 of them in all, I think), to trudge for days without food or water to be thrust into a freight car, dumped on the Macedonia border and put into a refugee camp....to traveling to Vermont to a new life. Horrible injustices. So much hate. And killing. Cruelty. Subhumanity. And this is going on in many places in the world RIGHT NOW! The story ends shortly after 9/11, which is another huge blow to this non-practicing Muslim family.

When we look around and see immigrants, we must realize how much they've left behind to be here. Huge pieces of themselves left behind. Family and friends that will never been seen again. I'm almost speechless with sadness. What can I do to help?

Here's another review, from Twenty by Jenny. It includes an interview with Katherine Paterson and her editor about the writing of the book. Quite interesting.

14 Cows for America - Carmen Agra Deedy

In collaboration with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah
Illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez
Peachtree, 2009
36 pgs.
Rating: 4
Endpapers: (front) blazing sunset, (back) dusky sky

Kimeli comes home to his remote native village in Wesern Kenya from his studies at Stanford University. It's been most of a year since September 11th, and he tells the devastating story to his village. To these Masai people, the cow is life. They invite the U. S. Ambassador to their village and present him with 14 cows they've specially blessed - as an offering for the future. The book ends, "Because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort."

There's a two-page explanation at the end by Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, for this is his story. The full-page deeply-colored illustrations accentuate the uniqueness of these Masai people artistically showing their customs and life in lovely detail - a beautiful story.

Note: The 14 cows are being cared for in Kenya. They are blessed, sacred, and can never be slaughtered. The herd now numbers 35.

There are reviews at 5 Minutes for Books, the Scrub-a-Dub-Tub Blog, and at School Library Journal.