Overview

Told in the voices of young people, a novel in verseabout the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. One hundred and eighty-fourinnocent people were killed. The event occurred at 9:37 a.m. and was part of acoordinated terrorist attack against the United States involving four hijackedflights. Author Jacqueline Jules, who was a school librarian inArlington, Virginia on 9/11, tells the story of that day through a tapestry ofpoems. These poems tell the stories of young people from all aspects of the Arlingtonand Pentagon communities and are composites drawn from personal experienceswith students and friends residing in Northern Virginia at the time of theattack. September 11th changed childhoods. Anyone old enough toremember that day will never forget, but today's children need to be told the story. Excerpt: ? My teacher, Mr. Peters, stops mid-sentence, steps sideways to lean over the monitor on his desk. His mouth drops open. He looks like a fish gulping air. The room stays silent until he finally speaks to say something about planes hitting New York and us. ""The Pentagon is on fire,"" he says.

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9781638191520

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"How do we remember tragedy? Which moments do we carry with us, and which do we try to forget? Moreover, what do we preserve for history and teach to our children? With these powerful questions as its driving force, a new collection of poetry revisits the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of youth. The book's 20 poems unfold roughly in chronological order, beginning in classrooms on the morning of the 11th and moving to homes and the surrounding community in the following hours, days, and weeks. Drawing from her experience as a school librarian in Arlington, VA, Jules inhabits an array of identities--mostly teenagers, with a few elementary-aged children and one young adult. Each poem's first-person narration evokes a subtly different shade of emotion, ranging from shock to sorrow, from fear to anger, from uncertainty to resolve, honoring the complexity of the societal response to the attack. Potent simile (""He looks like a fish gulping air,"" ""the fear I feel inside, / like a helium balloon slowly leaking"") and personification (""a building that's bruised/ and burnt"") heighten the immediacy of the events. In expressionistic collage art, R�cz depicts a diverse cast of characters, their downcast faces and slumped body language suggesting a deep and heartfelt period of mourning. VERDICT A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a -national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern -collections.-Jonah Dragan"

How do we remember tragedy? Which moments do we carry with us, and which do we try to forget? Moreover, what do we preserve for history and teach to our children? With these powerful questions as its driving force, a new collection of poetry revisits the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of youth. The book's 20 poems unfold roughly in chronological order, beginning in classrooms on the morning of the 11th and moving to homes and the surrounding community in the following hours, days, and weeks. Drawing from her experience as a school librarian in Arlington, VA, Jules inhabits an array of identities--mostly teenagers, with a few elementary-aged children and one young adult. Each poem's first-person narration evokes a subtly different shade of emotion, ranging from shock to sorrow, from fear to anger, from uncertainty to resolve, honoring the complexity of the societal response to the attack. Potent simile (""He looks like a fish gulping air,"" ""the fear I feel inside, / like a helium balloon slowly leaking"") and personification (""a building that's bruised/ and burnt"") heighten the immediacy of the events. In expressionistic collage art, Rácz depicts a diverse cast of characters, their downcast faces and slumped body language suggesting a deep and heartfelt period of mourning. VERDICT A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a -national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern -collections.-Jonah Dragan

"How do we remember tragedy? Which moments do we carry with us, and which do we try to forget? Moreover, what do we preserve for history and teach to our children? With these powerful questions as its driving force, a new collection of poetry revisits the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of youth. The book's 20 poems unfold roughly in chronological order, beginning in classrooms on the morning of the 11th and moving to homes and the surrounding community in the following hours, days, and weeks. Drawing from her experience as a school librarian in Arlington, VA, Jules inhabits an array of identities--mostly teenagers, with a few elementary-aged children and one young adult. Each poem's first-person narration evokes a subtly different shade of emotion, ranging from shock to sorrow, from fear to anger, from uncertainty to resolve, honoring the complexity of the societal response to the attack. Potent simile (""He looks like a fish gulping air,"" ""the fear I feel inside, / like a helium balloon slowly leaking"") and personification (""a building that's bruised/ and burnt"") heighten the immediacy of the events. In expressionistic collage art, Rácz depicts a diverse cast of characters, their downcast faces and slumped body language suggesting a deep and heartfelt period of mourning. VERDICT A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a -national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern -collections.-Jonah Dragan"

How do we remember tragedy? Which moments do we carry with us, and which do we try to forget? Moreover, what do we preserve for history and teach to our children? With these powerful questions as its driving force, a new collection of poetry revisits the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of youth. The book's 20 poems unfold roughly in chronological order, beginning in classrooms on the morning of the 11th and moving to homes and the surrounding community in the following hours, days, and weeks. Drawing from her experience as a school librarian in Arlington, VA, Jules inhabits an array of identities--mostly teenagers, with a few elementary-aged children and one young adult. Each poem's first-person narration evokes a subtly different shade of emotion, ranging from shock to sorrow, from fear to anger, from uncertainty to resolve, honoring the complexity of the societal response to the attack. Potent simile (""He looks like a fish gulping air,"" ""the fear I feel inside, / like a helium balloon slowly leaking"") and personification (""a building that's bruised/ and burnt"") heighten the immediacy of the events. In expressionistic collage art, R�cz depicts a diverse cast of characters, their downcast faces and slumped body language suggesting a deep and heartfelt period of mourning. VERDICT A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a -national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern -collections.-Jonah Dragan

Author Information

Jacqueline Jules is a former school librarian and author of forty books for young readers, including the Zapato Power series, the Sofia Martinez series, and Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation. She is also a poet and the author of three poetry chapbooks, Field Trip to the Museum, Stronger than Cleopatra, and Itzhak Perlman's Broken String. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Cicada, Highlights for Children, Cricket, Spider, YARN, Germ Magazine, The Poetry Friday Anthologies, and One Minute Till Bedtime. She lives in Port Washington, NY. Eszter Anna Rácz is a freelance illustrator from Hungary who specializes in hand-made art using collage techniques and hand-painted paper. She has three kids and fell in love with children's illustration while reading her children stories. Eszter graduated from MOME, Budapest, and lives in Hungary.

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