A fantastic graphic novel about the post-9/11 world told through the eyes of those who experienced it's impact first hand.

A graphic novel that explores the immediate aftermath and lasting effects of the attacks on September 11, 2001. This graphic novel draws on individual moving stories to help teens contextualize what they know, and also broadens their understanding of the chain of events that resulted after the attacks. Don Brown has created a deeply moving account of September 11 bearing witness to our history and how these attacks shape our future.

Don Brown should write textbooks...kids would read them if he did. Real and narrative, this is why people still major in history.

This powerful graphic novel is not to be missed! Featuring emotional graphics that will bring those of us who watched the tragedy of 9-11 live and transport younger people to NYC as if they were there, this book focuses on the point of view of the people who lived through it. Teen readers will know what it was life was like leading up to the attacks, during the attacks, and after the attacks, evoking powerful emotions and testimonies. This book is a definite addition to any YA collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for this ARC

A great Graphic novel, shows histories messy footprints and shines a light on our unsung heros

Maybe it's because I remember 9/11 and was a child in New York at the time, I struggled with this book and some of its content.

As an educator, I really value non-fiction graphic novels, especially about events that are hard to understand or that my students are not familiar with. The Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks chronicles what happened after the attacks as well as the effects years later.

While not a deep dive into history, the book thoughtfully packs a lot of information onto beautifully illustrated pages. Don Brown also did his research which is reflected in the afterward, source notes, statistics, and bibliography. I think that this text would work well for middle or high school classes in either English or History classes.

The Great American Dust Bowl, The Unwanted: Stories of Syrian Refugees, and Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans are other excellent graphic novels by Don Brown.

Thank you to the publisher, Etch/HMH Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for access to this eARC.

Don Brown has a powerful way of showing history in all its messiness that is both accessible to young readers without glossing it over. This is a powerful book and I loved the focus on emergency rescuers.

This is a well done graphic novel that chronicles the morning of September 11, 2001 and the aftermath. All of the dialogue is from actual accounts. This is a great resource for teaching students about this day. Especially since all of our school children were born post 9-11.

This is a graphic novel showing through wonderful illustrations and thoroughly researched material, how events unfolded on 9/11/2001. This book is very detailed with facts about how the people affected most closely started the day, how the events took place, the response to the startling first plane hitting the tower and the aftermath. There is also a lot of information about the governmental response, both in the short term and the long term ramifications. This is a book that is a great tool for those who have lived through the day but also for teaching the younger people who have only heard or seen information from the date.
The illustrations were beautiful and captured 9/11 as it played out, the shock, the fear, the anger, the determination to help, and the way the people of the USA rallied together to try to get through all of the emotions.
The author shares a synopsis of the lives lost and who was impacted directly at the end of the book. It is incredible to stop and read through this section. I also found the vast array of sources that were used to be impressive.
Highly recommend.
#IntheShadowoftheFallenTowers #NetGalley #ClarionBooks #Etch

I couldn't finish this book. Not that I didn't want to, I just couldn't. The story just became a little too emotional for me and brought back too much of that day. Not to say that it wasn't a beautiful book, it was. The writing was beautiful, the imagery was outstanding, I just couldn't continue. However, I think this book is a must read for middle grade and young adult. I think it's important for them to learn the history of that day, and I think from what I have read, this book does a great job of laying out what happened before, during and after the attacks.

I was ten years old when the 9/11 attacks occurred and I remember so distinctly the moment when I realized what exactly had happened, although I didn't really realize what it all meant. Don Brown does a fantastic job giving an overview of the events as they happened, largely through the eyes of first responders. It also doesn't shy away from topics such as the waterboarding the United States committed, despite it being classified as a form of torture. It's the kind of book that sparks your interest and makes you want to dive in more.

I loved how simply but emotionally the story of 9/11 was told in this book. The illustrations are breathtaking and very well done. This is a great way to introduce the whole story to a generation of kids who didn't know life before 9/11.

Can you believe that this month will mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11? For those of us like Sophie who were old enough to remember that day, its memory is seared into our minds forever, but there is now an entire generation who have grown up only knowing of 9/11 as a historical event, and it is for them that In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers by Don Brown really exists.

This graphic novel chronicles “the immediate aftermath and rippling effects of one of the most impactful days in modern history”. Much of this comes via first-hand accounts from those who were at the scene, but the book also explores what was going on with the President, the many flights forced to land at Gander in Newfoundland, and the repercussions of the attacks from rising hate crimes against Muslim Americans to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These sections hold particular poignancy reading them while new headlines constantly scroll about Afghanistan today – the repercussions it seems are far from over.

As it is written for a younger audience, the most upsetting elements of the tragedy and its aftermath are largely avoided, but the book doesn’t shy away from honesty where possible. It touches on the torture of political prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and the need to use forensics to identify victims from very limited remains. Many readers will also find the pages about rescue dogs and the pets of victims and evacuated locals very hard to read.

This is a sensitively written look at a defining historical event that is still influencing the world today. It does a good job of trying to stay unbiased and sticking to the facts no matter how hard to swallow they may be, although there is an obvious American-leaning perspective throughout as you would expect from an American author. This would be a great read for introducing more mature younger readers to the events of 9/11 in a way to invite discussion but without sensationalizing a tragedy that many of us are still reeling from 20 years later.

This short, detailed graphic novel is a good entry point for those who do not remember that horrific day. It factually looks at the events of the day and their aftermath. The art is appropriate for the event - dark and muted.

My thanks to Clarion Books/Etch for a temporary review copy via NetGalley of ‘In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers’ written and illustrated by Don Brown in exchange for an honest review.

This powerful graphic novel is subtitled: ‘The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks’, which sums up its content well. It is intended for readers aged 12+, though I feel that it will also be relevant to older readers.

It opens with the an image of the twin towers of The World Trade Centre on a clear September morning.
Then the shocked eyes of Jules Naudet, a filmmaker who that morning was filming a documentary with the NYFD in Lower Manhattan. Hearing the sound of a low flying plane, he swung his camera skyward and captured the moment the highjacked airliner slammed into the North Tower.

Jules then accompanied the firefighters into the stricken building, remaining with them until they evacuated just before its collapse at 10:28. After these opening panels the focus moves to the rescue operations on The Pile’ and then on to later events as per its subtitle.

The illustrations are simple with a stark sense of almost photographic immediacy. Brown’s style is reminiscent of archive footage in documentaries that I have recently watched for the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Don Brown has utilised a muted palette: grays and browns with only the occasional use of colour.

Following the main text there is an afterword, statistics, source notes, and an 8-page bibliography.

I found reading it a very moving experience and felt that Brown and the team at Clarion Books/Etch had approached the project with respect and sensitivity.

‘In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers’ is an important work of graphic nonfiction that I would expect will also be of interest to educators and both public and school librarians.

I have purchased its hardback edition.

Highly recommended.

Much as my generation studied the events of December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked and we officially joined World War II, it's important that all Americans learn about the events of September 11, 2001. This graphic novel attempts to go beyond the dry facts, giving a real-time account of the events of the day. As one of those who saw it all unfold, moment by moment, and can easily recall the confusion, disbelief and horror that took over America's (and the worlds) minds and hearts, I applaud this ambitious and brave retelling of an important day in American history. I'd like to see this graphic novel start appearing in high school history classes as well as libraries everywhere.

My thanks to author Don Brown, Clarion Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

With the 20th anniversary of September 11th coming up. This isn't the first work I've seen covering the topic.

This one is unique as it takes on telling the story from the perspective of someone who is experiencing it in the present rather then as someone looking back on how that event has shaped what we understand as the present.''

I feel like this could be a better introduction to the topic, the other pieces of work I've picked up. It is a lot more light handed it's descriptions of the gore and tragedy. (What I think of Specifically is people jumping out of the towers)

This year is the 20th anniversary of September 11th. Award-winning author and illustrator Don Brown's graphic novel takes readers into the moments directly after, the attack, and follows the ramifications of that day, still felt in 2021. Don Brown helps put readers into the middle of that day, with quotes from survivors and family members, to help contextualize the events September 11th and its effect on global history and politics. It's respectful, never melodramatic, thought-provoking, and a strong tribute to the people that we lost, and those we left behind. Artwork is bleak, rendered in shades of brown and grey, with periodic red-orange flames, illustrating the Ground Zero landscape. Back matter includes source notes, statistics, citations, and an afterword. An important addition to your nonfiction collections.

A powerful - if too short - look back at the events of 9/11/01 and the domino effect they had on the future (the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, hate crimes against Muslims, etc.). The art was incredible in that it took me right back to watching those scenes play out in the 24/7 news cycle and what it felt like in the minutes, days and years after 9/11 changed our country. As we approach the 20th anniversary of the attacks, and as we watch the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years, it seems important to revisit the people, places and feelings of the moments that started it all.