#InTheShadowOfTheFallenTowers is a good graphic novel choice for younger people who are not familiar with the events on--as the book says--"the minutes, seconds, hours," etc. of 9/11. The book is clearly well researched moving between specific details and events to larger, more general explanations. Even being as familiar with 9/11 and its aftermath as I am, I learned something new while reading it. All of that being said, I found the "journalistic" or "neutral" tone to be unsettling in some panels. Explanations of "enhanced interrogation" (torture) and the bombing of Afghanistan and Iraq by the US are politically murky areas. And while the afterword does a valid job of trying to present that, the panels themselves do not. So I found myself more and more moving away from the information and emotional draw of the story itself. Thank you to the publishers and #NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Don Brown is one of my favorite graphic non-fiction writers for his ability to take on tough events in history (Hurricane Katrina, the Syrian Refugee Crisis) and focus on details that help the event to be better understood. In this one, he’s portraying the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Full disclosure, I was in New York City on that day and lived there as events unfolded. My saddest memories are around the missing flyers posted everywhere in the city.

He also focuses on the careful and painstaking removal and searching of the debris for human remains as well as the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan by Special Forces. The gray and brown palette provide the right tone for the work.

In true Don Brown style, this graphic novel chronicles the aftermath of September 11 events on a broad scale while humanizing the story by focusing on individual people’s struggles and triumphs. The illustrations add to the desperation one feels while reading the narrative and the whole package could bring you to tears. It has wonderful end notes and supporting citations back up the balanced account.