Towers Falling /// Jewell Parker Rhodes

From award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks in a classroom of students who cannot remember the event but live through the aftermath of its cultural shift.

When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Dèja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?

Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren't alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day.

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for youth, including Ghost Boys; Black Brother, Black Brother; Paradise on Fire; and Treasure Island: Runaway Gold. She is the recipient of many distinguished awards and honors, including the Coretta Scott King Author Honor, the Green Earth Book Award, an NAACP Image Award nomination, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Octavia E. Butler Award. Rhodes is the Founding Artistic Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and Virginia G. Piper Endowed Chair at Arizona State University.

"History made personal--and what a person! Deja's voice is real and memorable, her compelling story one of hope unmarred by sentimentality." -- Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author

"This tender retelling of tragedy is a solid vessel to help young readers understand the gravity of 9/11 and how it touches all Americans, no matter where we come from." -- Kirkus Reviews

"This is a welcome contribution to children's literature." -- School Library Journal

"Rhodes approaches a complex, painful topic with insight and grace, providing context to an event distant to the book's audience." -- Publishers Weekly

"…powerful, cleareyed…Rhodes doesn't assume her readers know the magnitude of 9/11; she walks them tenderly through it…In Dèja, Rhodes offers a believable portrayal of the kid who feels as if she's always giving the wrong answers in class, leading to sulking and outbursts." -- Eliot Schrefer, The New York Times Book Review

[H]  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers  /  July 12, 2016

1.0" H x 7.9" L x 5.5" W (0.68 lbs) 240 pages

[P]  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers  /  April 17, 2018

0.8" H x 7.6" L x 5.3" W (0.44 lbs) 256 pages

For ages 8 to 12