Towers Falling

Well, this book is fantastic -- a bit heavy on the philosophy, but I think it's appropriate to the subject matter. Lighter than I expected, and far more focused on the importance of home, family, social groups than I expected -- does a beautiful job of highlighting the things we have in common rather than our differences. Love how the 3 main characters all have things that are huge challenges in their lives (Deja, homelessness, Ben, divorce, Sabeen, persecution of Muslims).

TOWERS FALLING by Jewell Parker Rhodes tells the powerful story of a young girl learning about the history of 9/11.

Set in New York City, Deja is a homeless child enrolled in a new school. Along with her new friends Ben and Sabeen, the fifth-grader learns about the history of the 9/11 attacks as part of the school’s curriculum. As she dives into an exploration of this historical event, Deja soon discovers a personal connection she never imagined.

This thought-provoking story explores a wide range of important historical and socio-political connections to this event that occurred before the birth of today’s elementary children. Rhodes skillfully teaches children about the historical event within a story about friendship and show more family.

Librarians will find this to be an important addition to their library collection. Consider purchasing a class set and working with teachers to weave the novel into the curriculum.

To learn more about the author, go to http://jewellparkerrhodes.com/.

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Books on July 12, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher. show less

For fifth grader Dèja, it's tough enough starting school in a new neighborhood. Projects about her home and family only highlight how different she is from her classmates. Does her teacher reallly want an essay about living in a shelter? When Miss Garcia suggests that all her assignments have something to do with the two towers missing from the skyline out their classroom windows, Dèja is just confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side.

Several years ago, I read Jewell Parker Rhodes book on Hurricane Katrina. It too was written for middle-grade readers as a way to understand what happened during the disaster in New Orleans. NINTH WARD focused on a young girl who lived in Louisana and was tragically affected by Katrina. I thought it was very well done and it left an impact on me.

Parker Rhodes is back with another book perfect for middle-grade readers to try to understand the impact that 9/11 had on adults when the children growing up now, 15 years later (at the time this was written) were not even born yet. None of our children remember the actual event, but it is something we have talked about and watched news features about each year since it happened. As we are show more coming up on the 16th anniversary of the day America was attacked, this book might be a good way to approach a conversation with your child about what happened and how to understand it.

In this fictional account, Deja doesn't understand why her father is constantly in bed, with a headache, or angry. He no longer works which means her mom has to work even more hours. Deja is often responsible for caring for her younger siblings and they now live in a homeless shelter which is embarrassing and awful. It's the first day of 5th Grade and she's in a new school. Deja puts on her tough outer exterior and decides she isn't going to be nice to anybody in order to protect herself. Everyone else has a lunch box or money at lunch time, but instead, Deja decides to roam the halls. She has no friends...until a couple of kids in her class extend an olive branch. At first, Deja refuses to accept their offer of friendship, but then eventually Sabeen and Ben become her family as well as her teacher, Miss Garcia. All of the teachers are working together to teach about "our history, that's it's alive, and where we are from". Part of this has to do with the attack on 9/11 and Deja doesn't understand why it's important to learn about that one day and why her dad is so upset that her school is talking about it.

Deja tells the story and her voice is realistic and full of emotion. I can totally imagine her feelings of frustration with the school, her new friends, her father, and the other families at the shelter. I understand her unwillingness to trust new people and relationships and her misunderstandings of what is going on with her dad. If nothing else, Deja's story is a reminder for us to be open and honest with our kids, encouraging conversations about what is happening in the news, in our schools, in our communities, and the world around us. Children aren't dumb. They hear things at school, on the TV or radio, or from their friends. The best way to ease their fears is to be honest and open about what is happening. Once that happened for Deja, life became much easier for her and her family.

Jewell Parker Rhodes knows how to get into a child's mind and access their fears and frustrations. Children will be able to identify and empathize with Deja and her friends. Talking about disasters can be difficult, but with a story like TOWERS FALLING or NINTH WARD, you can remind children that there is still good in the world and we can always have hope. show less

I wanted to love this, but some key elements of characterization were missing for me. I didn't feel where the kids' friendship came from in the first place. Why did Ben and Sabeen stick with Deja even though she was (realistically, defensively) mean to them? And the way the characters talked or Deja narrated felt elegiac, but so unlike real kids' voices that I often had to roll my eyes:

"It's a metaphor," I say. "Like we study in stories, poems. Water is life."
"Tears," Ben replies.... "Constantly falling."

It will work, I think, as a 9/11 teaching tool for young readers. The bones are a standard school friendship story, which most kids are willing to read. The narrative follows the kids' process of learning about 9/11 from their show more teacher, and their own research when the adults around them don't want to talk. The clear message is that we are all one human family, including the beauty of all our differences. Very very mild spoiler: I'm grateful to have the story of Deja's dad's ongoing health problems from surviving the Towers. Those are very real lingering effects and have very real and devastating consequences for families like Deja's. We need to talk about that more.

This was a book club book for a local public library, and the librarian told me it was everyone's favorite, despite the wide age range of the club (4th-8th grade or so?). show less

This year will be 15 years since the 9/11 attacks. No one in school today (K-12), was even in school then. For this adult it's hard to fathom. To the students in Miss Garcia's fifth grade class in Brooklyn, it's history.
There's a lot going on here. Our narrator, Deja, and her family are homeless. Her father is sickly and despondent for reasons Deja is not sure of. Her new friends in her new school are a Muslim girl, with a lovely family and boy just relocated from Arizona because of his parents impending divorce.
Miss Garcia starts the 9/11 syllabus with study of family and community. She takes baby steps. But there is a reason for her baby steps.
Not graphic but not sugar-coated. Powerful discussion starter.

This new book is an amazing mixture of contemporary realistic fiction and history for those of us who were alive on 9/11/2001. The book is set 15 years after 9/11, with Deja being the main character of the book. She and her family live in a homeless shelter because they can't afford rent & her dad is sick and can't keep a job. Deja is often in charge of her 2 younger siblings, but on the first day at a new school (September 6), her mom takes the kids to daycare so Deja won't be late. Imagine being new to a school, with the other kids in the class knowing each other and talking about their vacation and their new clothes. Deja sits in the back of the room where she meets Ben and Sabeen, two other new kids or as Deja calls them "the show more outsiders" Their teacher, Miss Garcia, starts out the school year by having the students share about families and social units, The students are all figuring out where they belong, the importance of history and how it all goes together with the lessons their teachers are sharing with them. Miss Garcia shows them a black and white picture to observe and then has the students walk over to the windows to do a comparison. Miss Garcia announces that they are studying what happened on 9/11, the day the towers fell. (It comes out in the book that Miss Garcia had been a 5th grader at the time of 9/11. A definite connection of the teacher to the 5th grade students she is teaching.)

Throughout the book, we see outbursts of anger and frustration from Deja, who just doesn't get it. She's mad about having to live in the shelter and sad that her dad is sick all the time. Thankfully Ben and Sabeen are beside her, all of them learning what it means to be a part of a friendship connection in NYC. The three friends learn about differences -- their own differences being homeless (Deja), having only one parent (Ben), being Turkish (Sabeen) -- in their classes and in their world. They learn how to work together to understand the differences between older and more current American history. The story continues showing how their lessons all tie together. Why Deja's dad is so sick and very upset anytime the 9/11 assignment is brought up within his hearing. The book is brought to wraps by Deja discovering the 9/11 memorial and discovering the real reason her dad is sick. An honest conversation between Deja and her father brings tears to this reader's eyes. A very contemporary story to introduce the happenings of 9/11 to those who were not yet born. The tribute to those lives who were lost is heartwarming and the author did an amazing job of weaving so many other critical issues into the story -- homelessness, differences, divorce, race, patriotism, friendships, community building.

The author's note at the end of the book is the frosting on the cake as she describes how this book came to be, the research she did and her challenge to write a book that "doesn't shy away from the tragedy but instead gave a sense of how citizens expressing our American identity were strong, brave and triumphant over terror." (pg 227) Bravo to Jewell Parker Rhoades for being brave & writing this book! From the front jacket "...Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a story of resilience, hope and finding yourself in a complicated world." Let us always remember those who lost their lives, those who survived, those who were brave and how America came together during this horrible time!

As an elementary school librarian (and an Air Force wife), none of my current students were born yet for 9/11. (Those kids are now 8th graders and higher.) Each year I have shared this date/s significance and this book is a wonderful bridge of learning and teaching about the 9/11 tragedy. It's important that our children know about what events shaped America's history. I will be sharing this book with my intermediate teachers and it will be a part of my library curriculum this fall. show less