Starred review from April 25, 2016
For a generation of readers born and raised after 9/11, Baskin (Ruby on the Outside) offers a powerful account of how the events changed lives. Her cast is made up of four middle-school students who briefly cross paths at Chicago’s bustling O’Hare Airport two days before the Twin Towers fall. Characters include Will, a Pennsylvania boy still grieving his father’s death; Aimee, settling into her new home in Los Angeles while her mother is on a business trip in New York City; Brooklyn native Sergio, who has just won a national math award; and Nadira, a Muslim girl from Ohio who is trying to fit in by not wearing her “beliefs on her sleeve.” Hours before the hijackings, the children are preoccupied with family and peers, but after learning about the terrorist attacks, all are deeply and personally touched in some way, their problems put in new perspective. There are no graphic displays of violence; Baskin focuses on how her characters emerge wiser, worldlier, and more sensitive to others’ pain after surviving a profound and tragic piece of history. Ages 8–12. Agency: Nancy Gallt Literary Agency.
May 1, 2016
Gr 4-6-Four children from different parts of America go about their lives just days before the events of 9/11. Nadira is a Muslim girl struggling to balance her commitment to religious customs with her desire to fit in with the public school culture of Columbus, OH. Sergio lives in a low-income area with his grandmother in Brooklyn. Aimee is at home in California, missing her mother, who is on a business trip to New York City. Finally, there's Will in Pennsylvania, who has recently lost his father. The novel slowly follows the children through their days, failing to ever build any kind of page-turning tension. When the events of September 11, 2001, do occur, Baskin successfully depicts the reality from the perspective of the four protagonists. This is the story's greatest strength. Because of the sensitivity of the topic and the lack of a baseline understanding among most students, this book is best used as an in-class, facilitated read. Jewel Parker Rhodes's recent novel, Towers Falling, is a more engaging title that serves a similar purpose.
Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2016
Four children of diverse ethnicities, unknown to one another, are at Chicago's O'Hare airport on Sept. 9, 2001. Sergio, an African-American boy, is about to fly home to New York City. Naheed, a Muslim-American girl, awaits the arrival of relatives from Iran. Aimee, a white, Jewish girl, is on the way to a new home in Los Angeles, where her mother has a new job with Cantor-Fitzgerald, while her mother is flying to New York City for a meeting at the World Trade Center. Will, a white boy who has recently lost his father, is on the way home to Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Baskin follows each of them over the 48 hours prior to 9/11 and recounts their experiences on that day as well as their participation in the first anniversary ceremonies. An author's note explains her decisions to emphasize "the division between 'before 9/11' and 'after 9/11' " for children who were not yet born then, to spare all her characters the loss of a loved one, and to depict the post-9/11 spirit of community that existed for at least a short time. Readers will have different reactions to the work depending on their ages and how much prior knowledge they bring to it. Adults may be chilled by key names and places and what they portend, but children may gain a small sense of the magnitude of the changes that day wrought on our world. Tense, disturbing, and thought-provoking. (author's note, acknowledgements) (Historical fiction. 10-14)
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July 1, 2016
Grades 4-7 Sergio, a math whiz, is headed back to New York after a trip to Chicago. Nadira, uncomfortable at a new school where her head scarf earns her funny looks, is at the airport to greet family. Aimee's mother is headed to New York on a business trip, while Aimee and her dad fly home to L.A. Will and what's left of his family after his father's sudden death are returning to Pennsylvania. Over the course of two daysSeptember 9 and 10, 2001this follows these four characters through the ordinary days before the event that rocked a nation. Baskin's novel reminds readers that our lives are interconnected in ways we might never understand; by focusing on four young characters, she underscores the effects September 11 had on those involved and those bearing witness. By adult standards, this is perhaps a bit too neatly tied up, but it is a gentle introduction to a difficult topic for young readers, many of whom will be too young to remember the events firsthand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)