Publication date: August 10, 2021
Full title: In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks by Don Brown, author and illustrator
This graphic novel chronicles exactly what the title says it will chronicle. Add to this the fact that my youngest child, who is now 23 was in preschool on the morning of 9/11/2001. As a 4-year old, he has no lived memory of that day, so for anyone born from at least 1997 on, this event is memory through history, and not lived history imprinted on the brain. Add to this fact that as a teacher of teachers, my candidates are around my son's age or younger, so they may also be social studies teachers with no lived experiences of that horrific day.
This graphic novel, then, coming out 20 years after the fact is timely, relevant and much needed. This is one of those days that will live in infamy. It is not the first. It is not the last. However, it is ONE day.
What this graphic novel does so well is immediately put the reader/viewer right into the action by following certain key people who were on the ground before the first plane hit like Jules Naudet who was filming New York City Fire Department Chief Joseph Pfeifer and his crew in lower Manhattan for a documentary. This is a comprehensive look at multiple actions, interactions, repercussions and consequences that stemmed from this initial terrorist attack and that continues to change our way of life in America for these 20 years that followed this event.
As a former social studies teacher, the afterword, the statistics, as well as the source notes are the best kind of "textbook" for 8th graders in US History class around our nation. For the 2,753 victims and their families lost in lower Manhattan, may we Americans never forget that 9/11 stands for our vulnerability, but most importantly it represents our strength as a nation.
I received an eGalley from Edelweiss + and the publishers for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment