Towers Falling

May 9, 2016
With the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, Dèja’s fifth-grade teacher draws the students’ attention to the skyline outside their classroom window, pointing out where the towers once stood. At first, Dèja is unable to fathom how something that happened so long ago could have any bearing on her, especially when she has more immediate problems—her family is currently living in a shelter. But she learns that the events of 9/11 have a long reach, affecting those closest to her in ways large and small. Rhodes (Sugar) gives readers an approachable entry point to consider the terrorist attacks of 9/11, as well as homelessness, discrimination, divorce, and other subjects. Through Dèja’s interactions with classmates from a range of backgrounds (Dèja is African-American, and her new friends Sabeen and Ben have Turkish and Mexican heritage, respectively), readers will develop a richer understanding of what it means to be American, as well as the interconnectedness of the present and past. Rhodes approaches a complex, painful topic with insight and grace, providing context to an event distant to the book’s audience. Ages 8–12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

April 15, 2016
Deja Barnes doesn't want to stand out at the integrated Brooklyn Collective Elementary, and she wishes her family could move out of the Avalon Family Residence into a home; despite her fears, Deja tackles new friendships, a new teacher, and the mystery behind her father's deep sadness.On the first day of fifth grade, the African-American girl makes fun of Mexican-American Ben's cowboy boots and Muslim Sabeen's cheery attitude, but despite her defensiveness, Deja grows to appreciate her new friends' backgrounds. The trio draws from each of their experiences to help them navigate Miss Garcia's 9/11 curriculum. Deja hates thinking about the past--her old best friend, her old neighborhood, her old home--yet the more she learns, the more she understands that this event affected her and every American. Rhodes pulls off the difficult feat of making a well-known story new. Sept. 11 is anchored in the minds of many readers, but for a new generation, it is history they learn in school, like Deja. Through her eyes the event becomes fresh, heavy, and palpable, but at times 9/11 appears to be a competing rather than complementary protagonist. The cadences of the fifth-graders flow almost like slam poetry, emphasizing their feelings and senses over drawn-out descriptions or narration.This tender retelling of tragedy is a solid vessel to help young readers understand the gravity of 9/11 and how it touches all Americans, no matter where we come from. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)

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March 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-As the 15th anniversary of September 11, 2001, approaches, it brings with it a time for profound reflection. Rhodes's new novel offers a way to discuss the events of 9/11 with children too young to remember this pivotal event. This well-paced novel follows Deja, a fifth grader whose father suffers from a chronic cough, depression, and anxiety, all of which prevent him from maintaining a job. As a result, Deja and her family have lost their apartment and are now living in a group home in Brooklyn. When Deja begins at a new school, she makes friends with a Muslim girl and a boy whose father is an Iraq War veteran. When their teacher begins a lesson about September 11, the three friends learn how the day's events relate to them as individuals and as part of their wider community. This is a welcome contribution to children's literature, on a topic not many authors have broached for this age group, and it will function well as a teaching tool. It reads easily and offers educators the opportunity to not only address the events of September 11 from a historical perspective but also from a social one. Themes include community, diversity, and socioeconomic disparities. VERDICT Recommended as an addition to middle grade collections and as a classroom group reading title to help facilitate classroom conversations about 9/11.-Pilar Okeson, Washington DC Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

kenziegirl2008 - SPOILER ALERT!!! THis book is about a girl named Deja who lives with her siblings Raymond and Leda and her parents, Pop who never seems to get better and is scary when he`s mad and Ma in Avalon Family Residence which seems nice, but it isn`t. Everyone at Deja`s new school seems to know about 9/11 except Deja, besides the fact that she`s lived in Brooklyn basically her whole life. At her old school nobody wanted to be friends with Deja because her family is homeless so she is suprised when Sabeen and Ben want to be her friends. When Deja goes over to Ben`s house he shows her a video of 9/11. Oh, how did Deja never know about it. After some investigating, (looking through an old suitcase) Deja finds that her father survived 9/11. She`s shocked, how did she never put the pieces together before?

April 15, 2016
Grades 4-7 Sure, moving from Brooklyn and into the Avalon Family Residence doesn't sound that bad, but for Deja and her family, it's just a fancy way of saying that they live in a homeless shelter. The one good thing to come out of the move is that Deja finally gets to go to a good school. Used to being a tough girl, she is quick to bristle, but two patient studentsSabeen, a Muslim, and Ben, a displaced country boysoon win her over. Fifteen years after the September 11 attacks, their school strives to teach about the tragedy by focusing on ideas of home, interconnectedness, and what it means to be an American. Deja, who has never heard about 9/11, is filled with questions, especially after her father grows inexplicably angry over her lessons. Rhodes excels at shining a meaningful, if teacherly, light on tragedyas she did for Hurricane Katrina in Ninth Ward (2010)and instructors and librarians will appreciate her sensitive but candid approach to the September 11 attacks, as well as her diverse cast of characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)