Rhodes, Jewell Parker Towers Falling, 223 pages. Little Brown, 2016. $17.
Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (talks about the people in the towers jumping to escape the fires).
Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (talks about the people in the towers jumping to escape the fires).
What happened on September 11, 2001? Deja, a fifth grader, has no idea, because she
wasn’t born yet, and all she cares about is trying to keep her family together
as they move from place to place, ending up now it a homeless family
shelter. Her new school is kind of
weird; everyone is nice enough, but the classwork seems to be skirting around a
bigger issue. Deja is befriended by two
classmates, whether she wants to be or not, and with their help she learns what
the big secret is and finally learns how this secret has been affecting her own
family.
What a great way to introduce students to the events and the
bigger issues of 9/11. If you teach
elementary school, you should read this before deciding to read it to your
students or not, if just because you should decide your own thoughts when it
comes to the kids watching the videos of the towers on fire and the people
jumping. While Rhodes very carefully
made the descriptions more factual than graphic, it is still a bitter sight to
read about. As a slightly older student,
I would be fascinated.
EL – OPTIONAL; MS – ESSENTIAL. Cindy, Library Teacher
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