In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years after the 9/11 attacks
By Don Brown
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. 121 pages. Young Adult Graphic Nonfiction

This graphic novel chronicles the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City through moving individual stories that bear witness to history and the ways it shapes the future.

This is a beautiful, haunting, and reflective work that reminds us all about the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. This is minimal text on each page, with the illustrations carrying the brunt of the emotional weight. It was easy to become immersed in the story and reflect on my own feelings about the fallen towers, while also gaining new knowledge and perspective on today’s world. This is a quick, but highly emotional, read and reminds each of us about the strength of uniting under a common goal.

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Hope and Other Punch Lines
By Julie Buxbaum
Delacorte Press, 2019. 306 pages. Young Adult Fiction

The tragic 9/11 event in NYC that changed the world, altered the life of Abbi Hope Goldstein as well as that of Noah Stern. They did not know each other back then, but they know each other now, and while Abbi is trying to move forward with her life, Noah still has unanswered questions that he believes Abbi can help answer.

With Their Eyes: September 11th, the View from a High School at Ground Zero
Edited by Annie Thoms
Harper, 2021. 256 pages. Young Adult Nonfiction

Tuesday, September 11, started off like any other day at Stuyvesant High School, located only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center. The semester was just beginning, and the students, faculty, and staff were ready to start a new year. But within a few hours on that Tuesday morning, they would share an experience that would transform their lives--and the lives of all Americans.

This powerful play, written by students of Stuyvesant High School based on their interviews with the school community, remembers those who were lost and those who were forced to witness this tragedy. Here, in their own words, are the firsthand stories of a day we will never forget. This 20th anniversary edition includes an updated introduction and a new foreword.

The Red Bandanna
By Welles Crowther and Tom Rinaldi
Viking, 2017. 167 pages. Young Adult Biography

Welles Crowther didn't see himself as a hero. He was just an ordinary kid who played sports, volunteered for the fire department in his town, and eventually headed off to college and then to Wall Street to start a career. Throughout it all, he always kept a red bandanna in his pocket, a gift from his father when he was little. On September 11, 2001, Welles was at his job on the 104th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center when the Twin Towers were attacked. What he did next would alter the course of many lives. That day, the legend of the Man in the Red Bandanna was born. ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi brings Welles's compassion to life in this young readers' adaptation of his book.

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