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A review by hallizalli
Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
4.0
4.5 stars
From the Author’s Note: “Though I thought I was ready to confront my own memories and emotions from 9/11, Ground Zero proved to be one of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve written.”
This is one of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve read. Harrowing was the first word that popped into my head when I finally finished. The reading experience was so anxiety-inducing. It was extremely well-written, told in alternating perspectives between a nine-year-old boy trapped in the World Trade Center’s North Tower on September 11, 2001 and an eleven-year-old girl trapped in war-torn Afghanistan on September 11, 2019. I truly felt like I was right there with both of the main characters, sometimes needing to set the book aside because the emotions were just too intense. That being said, Gratz managed to end it with a message of hope and togetherness.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. It’s one of my library’s selections for our 5th grade Battle of the Books. It 100% pushed me out of my reading comfort zone. And yes, this will be a tough one for the kids, but as the main characters proved, kids are nothing if not resilient. And they’re young enough to have only learned about 9/11 in school. I think this is a much more difficult read for adults who remember that terrible, tragic day.
From the Author’s Note: “Though I thought I was ready to confront my own memories and emotions from 9/11, Ground Zero proved to be one of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve written.”
This is one of the most emotionally difficult books I’ve read. Harrowing was the first word that popped into my head when I finally finished. The reading experience was so anxiety-inducing. It was extremely well-written, told in alternating perspectives between a nine-year-old boy trapped in the World Trade Center’s North Tower on September 11, 2001 and an eleven-year-old girl trapped in war-torn Afghanistan on September 11, 2019. I truly felt like I was right there with both of the main characters, sometimes needing to set the book aside because the emotions were just too intense. That being said, Gratz managed to end it with a message of hope and togetherness.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own. It’s one of my library’s selections for our 5th grade Battle of the Books. It 100% pushed me out of my reading comfort zone. And yes, this will be a tough one for the kids, but as the main characters proved, kids are nothing if not resilient. And they’re young enough to have only learned about 9/11 in school. I think this is a much more difficult read for adults who remember that terrible, tragic day.