PICTURE BOOK - The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

Illustrated by the author

2003 Roaring Brook Press

36 pgs, two of which are pullout two pages wide

Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 13, 830 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers:  Solid cream

1^st line/s:  "Once there were two towers side by side.  They were each a quarter of a mile high; one thousand three hundred and forty feet.  The tallest buildings in New York City."

My comments:  I've never felt particularly drawn to this book, and have perhaps skimmed it a couple of times, but I've read it today giving it plenty of attention, and I'm glad I did.  A TRUE STORY!  There's a bittersweet feeling at the end of the book, where it mentions that the towers are no longer there. Bittersweet because Philippe Petit's joy while traversing the 7/8-inch wire between the towers was palpable, and the picture of those two towers standing proudly in the New York City skyline will forever be etched in our brains.  The book ends: "But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there.  And part of that memory is the joyful morning, August 7, 1974, when Philippe Petit walked between them in the air."  This was a very satisfying story, the pictures were wonderful, and the marriage of story and pictures certainly deserve the Caldecott Medal far more than others I've seen.

Goodreads:  From a highly-respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.

3. Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes

read the actual book from Bosler Library
20016,, Little Brown & Co.
223 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF
Finished 1/5/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.08 - 5679 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting:  Contemporary Brooklyn, NY

First line/s:  "Pop groans.  He's having bad dreams again.  I hear Ma trying to comfort him.  My little sister, Leda, squirms.  I whisper, 'Hush.  Sleep,' and tuck the sheet beneath her chin.  We share a bed.  She turns over on her side, her feet kick my knees."

My comments:  I was teaching fifth grade in 2001 when 9/11 happened and fourth grade fifteen years later.  It's such a difficult thing to discuss with kids.  For the first few years it was easier to talk about, because students were around during the horror and, even if only peripherally and protectively, heard about it.  But as years passed, some parents didn't want to scare their kids and were reluctant for it to be taught in school.  I read this in anticipation of having an "Examining 9/11 through Literature" session at the library for tweens, but I'm still unsure if I'd use this title.  As an adult, I loved the way it was written and the way all the information about that atrocious time period evolved throughout the book.  I loved that Rhodes put Deja and her family in a homeless shelter, and I love that she also used a wonderful, safe school for her to go to - yes, they exist!  The ending was a little to sugary, but the entire concept was excellent, powerful, and very, very really.

Goodreads synopsis:  From award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, a powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks.
          When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?
          Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren't alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day.

PICTURE BOOK - The Little Chapel That Stoody by A. B. Curtiss

Illustrated by Mirto Golino

2003, Old Castle Publilshing, Escondido, CA

out-of-print but still available used
available at Bosler Library

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.56 - 121 ratings

My rating:  4

  

1^st line/s:  
"Around the Chapel
     of Old St. Paul
Blow the dancing leaves
     of the coming Fall.
In the morning breeze
     they leap and fly
Beneath the towers
     that scrape the sky."

My comments:  So perfect for middle grades, this summarizing of the events of 9/11, in rhyming poetic form, is a nice addition to 3rd - 5th grade classrooms.The rhyming is quite clever and hardly ever seems forced, the illustrations are beautiful, and the pre-history as well as the events that accompany this hard-to-discuss-with-kids day are all very good.

Goodreads:  Beautifully illustrated book tells of the historic chapel less than 100 yards from the Twin Towers that miraculously survived on 9-11. Firemen hung their shoes on the fence and raced to help the people in the towers: Oh what gallant men did we lose/Who never came back to get their shoes. The story of terror overcome by courage and bravery that teaches us no one is too small to make a difference.