SYNOPSIS

Nine-year-old Brandon tells the story of the day he joined his father at work at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Brandon is accidentally separated from his dad by some 30 floors when the planes crash, and spends agonizing hours unsuccessfully attempting to reunite with his father while witnessing heart-wrenching torment, destruction and mass death. Brandon survives, his father does not, and a decade later, as a U.S. Army soldier, is rescued by 11-year old Reshmina while under attack by the Taliban in rural Afghanistan.

PERFECT AGE 18+

THEMES

• Perseverance in the face of extreme adversity
• Kindness to others, even when going against own beliefs / family
• Sometimes, the real world is cruel and unexplainably so

CAUTION

• As a close participant in the terror of 9/11, I knew what to expect – and yet found this book almost unreadable
• Extremely graphic images of physical suffering and violent death, witnessed by a 9-year-old, are jarring even for adult readers
• Author noted that he needed 20 years to come to terms with his painful bystander 9/11 experience, yet he throws children in the deepest, darkest midst of it with seeming relish: people bursting in flames while climbing out of collapsing elevators; desperate high-floor suicides flying by in front of Brandon; Brandon wading through moaning near-corpses…
• Context-setting for such scarring historical moments is hugely important for young readers, yet lacking in the novel itself
• Empathy for young readers is nonexistent, which is especially worrisome when the events themselves are told by a child
• If your child is ready to learn about 9/11 I would recommend What Were the Twin Towers? by Jim O’Connor (from the WhoHQ series