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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
Fave Line: “Moving forward was scary. Sometimes you made mistakes. Sometimes you took the wrong path. And sometimes, even when you took the right path, things could go wrong.”
Genre: MG Historical Fiction
Synopsis:
Brandon goes to work with his dad in the Twin Towers on 9/11. While there he decides to sneak away and suddenly everything changes. The tower is hit and now him and father are separated. What will Brandon, a 9 year old, do when the world literally starts crumbling around him.?
Reshmina, a young girl in Afghanistan, has grown up with war but hope for peace. One day a battle erupts and she stumbles upon a injured American soldier. She wants to help him but is afraid of the consequences her family could face from the Taliban. Will she put herself, her family, even her village in danger to help him?
Rating:
5/5 ⭐️s
I don’t know if living through 9/11 made the story that much more powerful to me but I devoured this book. I appreciate the Gratz wrote from from both the American’s POV and the young girl from Afghanistan. I learned so much about that day and the war in Afghanistan. The tie in of the two
POVs is done so well. A must read for EVERYONE!
Genre: MG Historical Fiction
Synopsis:
Brandon goes to work with his dad in the Twin Towers on 9/11. While there he decides to sneak away and suddenly everything changes. The tower is hit and now him and father are separated. What will Brandon, a 9 year old, do when the world literally starts crumbling around him.?
Reshmina, a young girl in Afghanistan, has grown up with war but hope for peace. One day a battle erupts and she stumbles upon a injured American soldier. She wants to help him but is afraid of the consequences her family could face from the Taliban. Will she put herself, her family, even her village in danger to help him?
Rating:
5/5 ⭐️s
I don’t know if living through 9/11 made the story that much more powerful to me but I devoured this book. I appreciate the Gratz wrote from from both the American’s POV and the young girl from Afghanistan. I learned so much about that day and the war in Afghanistan. The tie in of the two
POVs is done so well. A must read for EVERYONE!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My class loved this book, though the Adam Gratz story lines are usually predictable. I will say, I didn’t see the connection between Brandon and Reshmina coming, though some of my students did. A great read aloud for fifth grade. 3.5 stars!
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This isn't what I typically think of when I think of books outside of my comfort zone, but honeslty I don't read a lot of historical fiction, nor a lot of middle grade, and definitely not the combination of the two. So I'm kind of struggling to write this review. I'm sorry if this is a mess.
Anyway, I'm just going to say that I totally get why Alan Gratz is so popular with the kids nowadays. This was such an incredible compelling read. The writing is great, and just really captivates you from beginning to end. I absolutely flew through this, and just did not want to put this down. On top of that I also just learned a whole lot while reading this book as well, and really felt for these characters. I legit teared up at the emotional climax of this book. I totally would have been obsessed with this author if his books were around when I was the target audience for them. I can already tell just based on my reading experience of this book alone.
As I said before this was an incredibly compelling read. I read it basically in 1 sitting, and thought it was great. Both Brandon's and Reshmina's POVs were really interesting, and very captivating. I do have to say that I did find the switching in POVs quite jarring at the start. I just felt like the connection between the two stories felt very thin, and it just felt like two seperate books smushed together. However, I do have to say that the connection is much stronger than I first realised, and I'm genuinely ashamed of how long it took me to figure it out. Ultimately I get why the author decided to include both stories, and I truly think it ended up enriching the overall story way more.
This book also doesn't really shy away from the brutality and horrors of these events. It is still done very much on the level of the target demographic, but it definitely is intense, and doesn't shy away from showing just how horrific both 9/11 was and the current war in Afghanistan is. I also liked how this book didn't really demonise either side. Even though it definitely 100% is against the Taliban, it does show how easily people, especially young boys, can be radicicalised to their side with reasoning that actually makes sense. It's hard to see another option for them. It's fucked. I also feel like a book like this would have made it so easy to idiolise all the American soldiers in Afghanistan, and it didn't. This book definitely critisied the war effort of the US in the country, in a way that is really well done in my opinion. It doesn't nececarily villianize every individual soldier but it does question what the US is even doing there and if their effort to 'help' is actually doing so or only causing more mass distruction. I think those conversations were really interesting, and especially valuable considering the target demographic. I thought it was really well executed.
Overall I do have to say that I found there more moments where the author clearly wanted to say something/convey a message, and it wasn't always as well intregrated in the story. Especially in the 2001 storyline a lot of the things said really felt like they came from a perspective from someone 20 years down the line, already knowing the entire fallout. That kind of pulled me out of the story a little bit at times. Considering the rest of the book is so well written, that kind of annoyed me even more. I feel like those things could have been better integrated than they were.
Anyway, I'm just going to say that I totally get why Alan Gratz is so popular with the kids nowadays. This was such an incredible compelling read. The writing is great, and just really captivates you from beginning to end. I absolutely flew through this, and just did not want to put this down. On top of that I also just learned a whole lot while reading this book as well, and really felt for these characters. I legit teared up at the emotional climax of this book. I totally would have been obsessed with this author if his books were around when I was the target audience for them. I can already tell just based on my reading experience of this book alone.
As I said before this was an incredibly compelling read. I read it basically in 1 sitting, and thought it was great. Both Brandon's and Reshmina's POVs were really interesting, and very captivating. I do have to say that I did find the switching in POVs quite jarring at the start. I just felt like the connection between the two stories felt very thin, and it just felt like two seperate books smushed together. However, I do have to say that the connection is much stronger than I first realised, and I'm genuinely ashamed of how long it took me to figure it out. Ultimately I get why the author decided to include both stories, and I truly think it ended up enriching the overall story way more.
This book also doesn't really shy away from the brutality and horrors of these events. It is still done very much on the level of the target demographic, but it definitely is intense, and doesn't shy away from showing just how horrific both 9/11 was and the current war in Afghanistan is. I also liked how this book didn't really demonise either side. Even though it definitely 100% is against the Taliban, it does show how easily people, especially young boys, can be radicicalised to their side with reasoning that actually makes sense. It's hard to see another option for them. It's fucked. I also feel like a book like this would have made it so easy to idiolise all the American soldiers in Afghanistan, and it didn't. This book definitely critisied the war effort of the US in the country, in a way that is really well done in my opinion. It doesn't nececarily villianize every individual soldier but it does question what the US is even doing there and if their effort to 'help' is actually doing so or only causing more mass distruction. I think those conversations were really interesting, and especially valuable considering the target demographic. I thought it was really well executed.
Overall I do have to say that I found there more moments where the author clearly wanted to say something/convey a message, and it wasn't always as well intregrated in the story. Especially in the 2001 storyline a lot of the things said really felt like they came from a perspective from someone 20 years down the line, already knowing the entire fallout. That kind of pulled me out of the story a little bit at times. Considering the rest of the book is so well written, that kind of annoyed me even more. I feel like those things could have been better integrated than they were.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Grief
Every teacher in my PLC told me I had to read some Alan Gratz this summer, as his books are a favorite among the students at Hadley, and I can see why! This book was great, and I would definitely recommend it for my students, although the subject matter is (appropriately) very intense in both stories.