Powerful book that I purchased for my school library. I recommend it and book talk it to most classes of fifth graders.

Fifteen years after September 11, Deja and her friends learn about the history of the Twin Towers and the 9-11 attack, an event that happened before she was born but that directly impacts her life on a daily basis, showing how history impacts the present. I love the focus on community, and how Deja comes to an understanding of how everyone in the community fits together. It's a great perspective from life very unlike my own, and it is a fantastic look at the effects 9-11 had on those who experienced it, even many years later. Jewell Parker Rhodes wonderfully captures the middle-grade genre in her novel.

Excellent realistic fiction for middle grades on the topic of 9/11. My Battle of the Books club members are reading it, and they love it! (4th & 5th graders). I am on the committee to choose the South Carolina Children's Book Award nominees, and we almost unanimously chose this book. It was one of the best books published for middle grades that year.

Jewell Parker Rhodes writes with a deft hand in a accessible and developmentally appropriate way to teach kids about what happened on September 11th as many kids reading her books were not even born yet. This would make a great title to use as a text in schools as Rhodes wrote it specifically with educators in mind. I think it would make a great contrast to textbook information and would bring the event into perspective for kids in middle grades.

Such a great book! I was so excited to see it on the Texas Bluebonnet list. I was able to have many great discussions with the students that read this book!

This title is a wonderful addition to the fiction offerings on 9/11.

My only caveat: I found it slightly unrealistic that a WTC employee would not have received professional care for PTSD/injuries/etc, but that's the adult reader in me. The story itself was a well-written tearjerker and a great introduction to a devastating event that is ancient history to its intended audience.

This novel starts out slow and subtle, with Deja starting fifth grade in a new school, close to the homeless shelter where her family is staying. As her class beging to explore the events of September 11, 2001, Deja learns that how that day is connected to where she is today, and until she begins to understand 9/11, she cannot begin to understand her family. Well written.

A moving telling of the impact the 9/11 tragedy had on the children of the people impacted. I highly recommend it.