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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
important and all too real. this touching novel is a snapshot of life after 9/11 and how we can come together as a family and community to heal.
rating: 3.5
rating: 3.5
It is a very good story that shows students it's ok to talk about the twin towers and all the lives lose. We can do more than having a moment of silence to remember history. It's important student understand why we we learn about the past. Good for grades 5-7
This is a book meant for young readers, middle school aged, kids who were not alive during 9/11 and may not know anything about it. So reading it as an adult who lived through it, with a husband who was in NYC that day, it was a bit too simple. I can see the book being used as a learning tool in schools and there are even sections in the back of the book just for that purpose.
The book is set in present day in Brooklyn being told from the point of view of 10 year old Deja. She knows nothing about 9/11 until her teacher starts discussing it in class. She seems to be the only one who is unaware. I don’t know how realistic this is. What do kids know? What do they understand? Have parents talked with them, other kids, just found out randomly on tv or the internet?
Deja makes friends with Ben, a new student from Arizona, and Sabeen, a Turkish American. These characters were written purposely to show how people outside of NYC area as well as those who seem ethnically similar to the terrorists have dealt with 9/11. Little by little Deja learns about 9/11 as well about relationships and how people are different yet the same.
I wish there was more after the end of the book but it’s a good starting point for kids.
The book is set in present day in Brooklyn being told from the point of view of 10 year old Deja. She knows nothing about 9/11 until her teacher starts discussing it in class. She seems to be the only one who is unaware. I don’t know how realistic this is. What do kids know? What do they understand? Have parents talked with them, other kids, just found out randomly on tv or the internet?
Deja makes friends with Ben, a new student from Arizona, and Sabeen, a Turkish American. These characters were written purposely to show how people outside of NYC area as well as those who seem ethnically similar to the terrorists have dealt with 9/11. Little by little Deja learns about 9/11 as well about relationships and how people are different yet the same.
I wish there was more after the end of the book but it’s a good starting point for kids.
Jewell Parker Rhodes says very clearly in her Author's Note for this book that she wanted to write a book that teachers could use to teach children about 9/11. Towers Falling accomplishes that goal. It offers adults a way of introducing conversations and history about something that remains an extremely emotional and terrifying--some would same paradigm-shifting--event in the history of the United States. No one who was alive that day will ever forget what it was like to watch those events unfolding. But how do you describe or explain what happened to children who were not yet alive when 9/11 occurred? Our past shapes our future so what and how much should they know? Why should it matter to them? These are hard questions and Towers Falling attempts to open the door to these conversations.
The main character is Deja. She, her parents and younger brother and sister are living in a shelter because her father suffers from both physical and mental illness and consequently has been unable to hold a job, resulting in their being evicted from their home. The story takes place over the first six weeks of school in 2015. Deja is starting 5th Grade in a new school. Her new teacher, Miss Garcia introduces a curriculum that includes teaching students about 9/11. Deja can sense that Miss Garcia is uneasy about teaching this new curriculum, but is unsure why that would be the case. Although Deja has lived in New York her entire life, she is unaware of what happened on 9/11.
As the classroom learns about concepts such as 'home' and 'social units,' engages in engineering experiments surrounding the structure of skyscrapers and historical instances when the United States has been attacked by other nations Deja is befriended by two other students (one new like her and one who has been there since 1st Grade). The three students have different cultural/racial backgrounds: Deja is African-American, Ben is Mexican and Sabeen is Turkish and Muslim. Rhodes uses the friendship of these three children as a backdrop for her underlying message:
If, as an adult, you are looking for a way to address the issue of 9/11 in an age-appropriate way for 4th - 6th Grade students Towers Falling is a worthwhile option. Because it does cover true and terrifying events I would recommend that adults read it with children, or at least read it first if you're going to allow a child to read this independently. Obviously, the choice to read this particular book will depend on the individual child; for example, a child with a lot of anxiety issues may not be a good fit for this book as an independent read.
The main character is Deja. She, her parents and younger brother and sister are living in a shelter because her father suffers from both physical and mental illness and consequently has been unable to hold a job, resulting in their being evicted from their home. The story takes place over the first six weeks of school in 2015. Deja is starting 5th Grade in a new school. Her new teacher, Miss Garcia introduces a curriculum that includes teaching students about 9/11. Deja can sense that Miss Garcia is uneasy about teaching this new curriculum, but is unsure why that would be the case. Although Deja has lived in New York her entire life, she is unaware of what happened on 9/11.
As the classroom learns about concepts such as 'home' and 'social units,' engages in engineering experiments surrounding the structure of skyscrapers and historical instances when the United States has been attacked by other nations Deja is befriended by two other students (one new like her and one who has been there since 1st Grade). The three students have different cultural/racial backgrounds: Deja is African-American, Ben is Mexican and Sabeen is Turkish and Muslim. Rhodes uses the friendship of these three children as a backdrop for her underlying message:
Deja, Ben, and Sabeen, while imaginary, represent every child living today who will be protecting our nation and its values and promoting peace tomorrow.
If, as an adult, you are looking for a way to address the issue of 9/11 in an age-appropriate way for 4th - 6th Grade students Towers Falling is a worthwhile option. Because it does cover true and terrifying events I would recommend that adults read it with children, or at least read it first if you're going to allow a child to read this independently. Obviously, the choice to read this particular book will depend on the individual child; for example, a child with a lot of anxiety issues may not be a good fit for this book as an independent read.
I pre-read this as an option for my daughter's mother/daughter book club. The girls are ages 11-13. I thought the book was incredibly well written and dealt tenderly with a terrifying and difficult subject. It is very difficult to teach our children about 9/11. I felt that this book handled the subject within the bigger picture of American values - freedom, democracy and justice for all - and illustrated how kindness and compassion help people heal. That said, I'm not recommending that my daughter (11 years old and in 5th grade) read it quite yet. There are some explicit scenes describing the attack and making it personal. Talking about video of people jumping from the towers and screaming for help and being burned and crushed in the destruction of the towers.
I still gave the book 5 stars and I do expect to have my daughter read it in the not too distant future. But, I would strongly recommend that parents read it first or with their children so that they can be available to answer questions and allay some fears. Thank you, Ms. Rhodes, for tackling this issue and leaving us with such a powerful novel.
I still gave the book 5 stars and I do expect to have my daughter read it in the not too distant future. But, I would strongly recommend that parents read it first or with their children so that they can be available to answer questions and allay some fears. Thank you, Ms. Rhodes, for tackling this issue and leaving us with such a powerful novel.
Really 4.5 stars if I could. I almost loved this book. I only wish it had talked a little more critically of our role in creating terrorists and the very inflated idea of the American Dream. Definitely a great example of how to talk to kids about tragic events like 9/11. Also, I want to go to that school!
Audiobook. I did not like the author’s narration of Daja. Very staccato reading and used single word repetition for emphasis.
Children should have the option to explore history because they are the future.
Jewell Parker Rhodes' Towers Falling is a middle grades book that handles the issues of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in a way that is respectful, truthful, but sensitive for students who were not even born when the events of that unforgettable day occurred. The book is told from the point of view of Deja, a girl who is living with her parents and two younger siblings in a room in a run-down group home in Brooklyn. Deja's father has numerous illnesses, including anxiety and depression, that keep him from being able to hold down a job, and so Deja's family has been living in poverty for as long as she can remember. Because of their new residence at the group home, Deja is attending (yet another) new school as the school year begins. At her new school, Deja makes fast and reliable, if unlikely, friends with Sabeen- a Muslim girl, and Ben- another new kid who has just moved to New York with his mother after his parents have become separated. Deja's school is studying about the events of 9/11 because of it being the 15th anniversary of the event, and as they learn, these three kids all have different issues to deal with related to that fateful event.
Excellent characterization, sensitive treatment of diversity and sensitive topics, and the themes that are addressed within this book all make it very readable and interesting for students. This is an excellent addition to classroom libraries for many reasons, but mostly because it is a very good, well-crafted story.