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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
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
I love you, Deja.
**
Nobody tells kids anything. At least that's how Deja begins to feel when her class at her new school starts studying the attacks of September 11. Even though she has grown up in New York, Deja knows nothing about what happened. Other kids do, even kids who didn't grow up in New York. So why's Deja on the outside looking in?
Deja's home life has never been very stable. Her pop is sick, a strange illness that seems to make him sad a lot and means that he can't keep a job. Deja has been bounced around to different places and different schools and now the family is living at Avalon, a homeless shelter whose fancy name doesn't reflect the decidedly un-fancy interior. Throughout it all, Deja has kept up her tough exterior, knowing she has to have a hard shell because when the kids find out she lives in a shelter, they'll make fun of her.
But this new school is different. At her new school, Deja makes friends for the first time ever. She starts to find out what a community is and, for the first time in her life, Deja feels a part of something. But when her pop finds out that they are studying September 11, he gets angry. He threatens to pull Deja out of her school. What is making him so sad and angry? And why doesn't anyone trust Deja to be able to handle the truth?
**
It's hard for me to objectively review a book about September 11, but I will say:
- This book broke my heart and put it back together again. Knowing the fear and heartbreak I was feeling in Indiana when the towers fell, I absolutely can't imagine what it was like for folks in New York. Picturing kids and teachers being able to see the towers fall from the windows of their classroom... there just are no words.
- I think the emotions of the teachers at Deja's school are spot on as they start teaching this new curriculum to explore the attacks of September 11 upon its 15th anniversary. Rhodes shows us how they're feeling without coming out and saying it.
- I don't know how all this will resonate with young readers, especially kids who are not living in New York, but I trust that Rhodes has done her research on this. I can't wait to share it with kids and see what they think.
**
Nobody tells kids anything. At least that's how Deja begins to feel when her class at her new school starts studying the attacks of September 11. Even though she has grown up in New York, Deja knows nothing about what happened. Other kids do, even kids who didn't grow up in New York. So why's Deja on the outside looking in?
Deja's home life has never been very stable. Her pop is sick, a strange illness that seems to make him sad a lot and means that he can't keep a job. Deja has been bounced around to different places and different schools and now the family is living at Avalon, a homeless shelter whose fancy name doesn't reflect the decidedly un-fancy interior. Throughout it all, Deja has kept up her tough exterior, knowing she has to have a hard shell because when the kids find out she lives in a shelter, they'll make fun of her.
But this new school is different. At her new school, Deja makes friends for the first time ever. She starts to find out what a community is and, for the first time in her life, Deja feels a part of something. But when her pop finds out that they are studying September 11, he gets angry. He threatens to pull Deja out of her school. What is making him so sad and angry? And why doesn't anyone trust Deja to be able to handle the truth?
**
It's hard for me to objectively review a book about September 11, but I will say:
- This book broke my heart and put it back together again. Knowing the fear and heartbreak I was feeling in Indiana when the towers fell, I absolutely can't imagine what it was like for folks in New York. Picturing kids and teachers being able to see the towers fall from the windows of their classroom... there just are no words.
- I think the emotions of the teachers at Deja's school are spot on as they start teaching this new curriculum to explore the attacks of September 11 upon its 15th anniversary. Rhodes shows us how they're feeling without coming out and saying it.
- I don't know how all this will resonate with young readers, especially kids who are not living in New York, but I trust that Rhodes has done her research on this. I can't wait to share it with kids and see what they think.
Deja’s world is full of trials. She lives in a one room apartment with four of her family members, her mom is overworked, her Pop is jobless and in a constant state of defeat, and she often has the responsibility of caring for her two siblings.
When Deja starts at a new school, her teacher begins lessons about home, community, and the twin towers. The more Deja delves into the topic, she finds that any mention of the towers agitates her Pop. But why? With her two new friends Deja goes on a path of uncovering her family’s secrets and discovering how history continues to affect the lives of everyone especially her own.
[Though this book is geared toward 3rd-7th graders, the depth in which the content is discussed and the amount of critical thinking skills that is needed makes this book more suitable for the older readers. It is listed at a 3rd grade reading level but I feel the vocabulary and complex sentence structures to be at a higher level]
When Deja starts at a new school, her teacher begins lessons about home, community, and the twin towers. The more Deja delves into the topic, she finds that any mention of the towers agitates her Pop. But why? With her two new friends Deja goes on a path of uncovering her family’s secrets and discovering how history continues to affect the lives of everyone especially her own.
[Though this book is geared toward 3rd-7th graders, the depth in which the content is discussed and the amount of critical thinking skills that is needed makes this book more suitable for the older readers. It is listed at a 3rd grade reading level but I feel the vocabulary and complex sentence structures to be at a higher level]
An interested perspective on how children learn and understand the events of 9/11. This is told through a 5th graders eyes, but it the understanding of the events are through a much older child's conscience.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
I received an advanced copy of this book at Netgalley.com.
This is a sensitive and age-appropriate telling of the events of September 11, 2015 to a child not yet born on that day. I found something wanting in the prose and dialog throughout but overall it was a fine book for middle grade readers.
This is a sensitive and age-appropriate telling of the events of September 11, 2015 to a child not yet born on that day. I found something wanting in the prose and dialog throughout but overall it was a fine book for middle grade readers.
This was so good I literally forgot what day it was. Did I need to get ready for work? Didn't care.
Deja is starting 5th grade in a new school, because her family was evicted and they're living in a shelter. Her teacher starts implementing a new,mandated curriculum, about 9/11. She is sensitive about being "less", being an outsider, but two other kids, (who have their reasons) befriend her.
Hard for adults, especially in NYC area,to realize that kids might not know about 9/11, or not know all the details/facts. However: Parents might not think they're ready. Or in this case too big of an issue, family struggling so hard because of it, that it was never mentioned. Also school hadn't touched it. Which is just starting to happen, for real and in this book. (Debatable whether a fifth grader in Brooklyn would have NO idea--she's never been to Manhattan, not had access to TV, her parents avoided it, her school was bad…but kids talk, even if they're wrong about details.) (Some of her Deja's classmates have partial info.)
I like how the school frames this, starting with groups: family, class,school, city, state, country. What makes America, america? What changes? What stays the same? Why do/should we care about history? Isn't it just the past? How does it impact us today?
I also appreciate how Rhodes shows that Ms. Garcia is struggling with the material, too. Uncertain, and dealing with her own memories.
Opens door to discussing accepting differences. And that we never know other people's whole story, maybe even in our own families.
By the time we get to an eyewitness account, we're almost ready. Still shocking and raw, immediate. But we can see the beginning of healing, and that sharing the story helps heal the devastating wounds.
This is an important and valuable book.
Deja is starting 5th grade in a new school, because her family was evicted and they're living in a shelter. Her teacher starts implementing a new,mandated curriculum, about 9/11. She is sensitive about being "less", being an outsider, but two other kids, (who have their reasons) befriend her.
Hard for adults, especially in NYC area,to realize that kids might not know about 9/11, or not know all the details/facts. However: Parents might not think they're ready. Or in this case too big of an issue, family struggling so hard because of it, that it was never mentioned. Also school hadn't touched it. Which is just starting to happen, for real and in this book. (Debatable whether a fifth grader in Brooklyn would have NO idea--she's never been to Manhattan, not had access to TV, her parents avoided it, her school was bad…but kids talk, even if they're wrong about details.) (Some of her Deja's classmates have partial info.)
I like how the school frames this, starting with groups: family, class,school, city, state, country. What makes America, america? What changes? What stays the same? Why do/should we care about history? Isn't it just the past? How does it impact us today?
I also appreciate how Rhodes shows that Ms. Garcia is struggling with the material, too. Uncertain, and dealing with her own memories.
Opens door to discussing accepting differences. And that we never know other people's whole story, maybe even in our own families.
By the time we get to an eyewitness account, we're almost ready. Still shocking and raw, immediate. But we can see the beginning of healing, and that sharing the story helps heal the devastating wounds.
This is an important and valuable book.
The saccharine patriotic tone had little nuance, which is problematic in a country that preaches freedom when most people don’t have all that much of it. And the audiobook narrator’s choice of a whiny voice almost made me give up on the book completely.
As the 15th year anniversary of 9-11 approaches, we are seeing a lot of books on the topic. This middle grade novel explores the topic from a current day perspective of three fifth graders, one who knows very little about the events surrounding 9-11.
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