[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Edelweiss and Scholastic Graphix in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Lucas is a football player. But after a significant concussion – his third in 2 years – his parents decide he shouldn’t play any more for his own safety. But Lucas decides to appeal to his “Uncle” Benny. Benny is Lucas’s dad’s best friend at the firehouse. Benny stepped up and helped Lucas’s family when his dad was hurt in a fire. He got Lucas into football in the first place. So Lucas cuts school on the morning of September 11, 2001 to talk to Benny.
While Lucas and Benny are near the firehouse, talking, the first plane hits the World Trade Center. As the firefighters head to the site and Lucas watches the news at the firehouse, the second plane hits. Lucas is alone at the station. He can’t get a call out to either of his parents. What should Lucas do next?
Review
This is excellent! The story is full, giving context to Lucas being in the city on a school day as well as giving football book-ends to the more serious pieces of the story. The basics of 9/11 are covered honestly, straightforwardly, with details that are appropriate for young readers.
The author includes her 9/11 story, told in comic panels at the end of the book. Other information about 9/11 and the aftermath is included in the backmatter. The artwork is stellar! Easy to follow, conveying the details of the scenes well.
September 11th, 2001, changed everything. And kids today were born into that changed world. They have questions about what happened that day. With the 20th anniversary coming up, this will be a great resource to answer some of their questions. I highly recommend this one for graphic novel fans, fans of the I Survived series, and kids curious to know more about this significant historical event.
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*
*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!
Echo Mountain – Ellie and her family move to Echo Mountain during the Great Depression, making due with what nature has to offer and the negotiations they can make with their neighbors. When Ellie’s father is injured and goes into a coma, she seeks out the mysterious “hag” who might be able to help him. This isn’t the sort of novel I would pick up on my own, but I enjoyed the characters in this one. There’s a magical element to Ellie’s instincts for medicine and healing that was interesting. ♥♥♥♥
Efrén Divided – Efrén’s parents are undocumented immigrants, and when his mother is deported, Efrén steps into more responsibilities to help his family. I liked the kids in the book, but the story is sad. I appreciated that the complications of the situation were reflected in the story – there are no simple solutions offered by the end. I think this could be a great story to introduce kids to contemporary issues on immigration, but it’s a heavy story which might keep some kids from giving it a try. ♥♥♥♥
Fighting Words – [TW: sexual abuse, sexual harassment, suicide] (Older Middle Grade) – When the older of two sisters who have been through a considerable amount of trauma tries to commit suicide, the younger sister thinks it might be time to make some noise about what they are going through. This is an excellent story – probably my second favorite from this list – but it is a *hard* read. This is definitely for older middle grade readers (10+), and even for that group, it’s a pretty weighty story. This is another book that could help readers feel seen and know they aren’t alone. But this is also a title that I believe will appeal to a subset of readers who are mature enough to handle the content. ♥♥♥♥½
From the Desk of Zoe Washington – A girl preparing for a baking challenge is secretly investigating the crime that put her father in prison – the one he says he didn’t commit. This was the one book from the list I had already read before receiving the list of nominees. I loved this book, and I’m thrilled that it was our team’s choice for the Cybils Award for Middle Grade Fiction. You can read my full review 
King and the Dragonflies – Kingston, grieving the loss of his brother, is convinced his brother has become a dragonfly. Kingston has no one to talk to about his grief or this theory because just before he died, Kingston’s brother told him to stay away from his best friend, Sandy, because he is gay. Being Black is hard enough; Kingston doesn’t need people thinking he might be gay, too. This is another heavy story. The writing is terrific, but the story itself felt dark and sad to me – there’s racism, harassment over sexuality, grief/loss, and also child abuse. This is the sort of book that can help some readers feel seen, but not all kids are looking for such a hard-hitting story. ♥♥♥½
Land of the Cranes – This is a novel in verse, also about immigration. This time, though, the main character is the one who is detained, making the the story sit much closer to the reader than Efrén’s story. This was hard to read, and I didn’t enjoy it. It’s enlightening, but another difficult, serious subject. ♥♥♥
Show Me a Sign – An OwnVoices story about a Deaf community in Martha’s Vineyard in the 1800s. A young scientist comes to Mary’s village to figure out why there is such a large population of Deaf people in the community, but his personal biases lead him to make dire choices that impact the community as a whole and Mary directly. This was a fascinating story, although it, too, was dark. The things that happen to Mary in the story were awful, and as a reader, I could feel her panic at being trapped without a way to communicate her thoughts, feelings, and experience in order to get the help she needed. There’s a lot of infuriating injustice in this story. Not only does the story address Deaf culture and communication and community, but it also touches on land disputes with Native Americans and other racial issues of the time period. This was my third favorite of the seven books we read; there will be a sequel to this one, Set Me Free, later this year. ♥♥♥♥
