Play 2026 Book Bingo
Highly-Rated and Readable 9/11 Books
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.This year marks the 25th anniversary of September 11th. Those of us who remember that day have vivid memories that are impossible to forget. However, as with other tragedies, we believe that books provide a vital connection to the past, helping us deepen our knowledge and share it with younger generations. We gathered a list of non-fiction and novels about 9/11 for you to consider reading this year.
Adult Fiction About 9/11
When I Ran Away
Book Summary
On the morning that the Twin Towers collapsed, Gigi fled her office building and escaped from Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry. Among the crying, ash-covered, shoeless passengers, Gigi spots a man she recognizes. Harry Harrison is a Brit who frequents her favorite coffee shop. Gigi takes Harry home to her parents’ house, where they spend hours watching the media coverage of the planes crashing. All the while, Gigi waits for a phone call from her younger brother that will never come.
A decade later, Gigi is now an overwhelmed single mother. After another chance meeting with Harry, the two fall in love. They have a baby and move to London, but rather than providing Gigi with a fresh start, she feels lonely and isolated. In order to find the light at the end of the tunnel, Gigi will first have to face the rage and grief she feels about her brother’s death and the challenges of motherhood.
Consider This Before Reading
This raw and emotional novel deals with postpartum depression and mental health issues with honesty and sensitivity, while also infusing a bit of unexpected humor.
A Fall of Marigolds
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
98% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made.
September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store, and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, which was the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. But a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf may open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life.
Our Thoughts on This Book
Melissa chose this book during the first year of our Decades Reading Challenge, and since that time, nearly 100 of our readers have read it, with nearly all rating it highly. One reader states, “I really appreciated the juxtaposition of the fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.”
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Joan’s father was a world-class artist who died on 9/11. Following in her dad’s artistic footsteps, Joan became an art historian. When her husband confesses that he’s fathered twins with another woman, Joan impulsively decides to take a last-minute job as an art courier on a trip to Paris. With some very valuable drawings tucked discreetly in her carry-on luggage, it’s her job to carry them safely to some potential clients in Paris.
On the flight, Joan enjoys sipping champagne while flirting with her seatmate, a handsome tech nerd named Nate. When they land in the City of Light, Nate invites her to dinner. After a romantic night out (and a romantic night in), Joan wakes the next morning to discover that the drawings are missing from her suitcase.
Even more shocking is that the art has been replaced with a sketch from her father’s journal that she believed was lost on 9/11. Along with the sketch is a poem that reads like a treasure hunt. With Nate as her sidekick, Joan follows the clues through the streets of Paris – from grand cathedrals to small bistros.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
83% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Nine-year-old Oskar Schell lost his dad on 9/11, and on top of that grief, he’s been carrying around a secret since that day his dad died. Oskar suffers from anxiety, but dreams up wild inventions to help him cope. And now he’s upset that his mom is spending time with a new man.
One day, while looking through his dad’s closet, he finds an envelope with the name Black on it and an unusual key inside. Oskar embarks on a mission to visit every person in NYC with the last name Black in hopes of learning what the key opens.
Unique Writing Style & Formatting
There are moments in this book that will make you laugh out loud, and others that will have you reaching for the tissues. Be aware that the author uses some interesting writing tactics, including words stacked on top of each other, incorrect punctuation, and even blank pages. However, in the audio version of the book, none of these things are apparent. Depending on your preferences, you may miss a bit with the audiobook, or it may allow you to enjoy the story without distraction.
The Knitting Circle
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Mary is lost in grief after the sudden loss of her only child, five-year-old Stella. She’s shut out her husband, has a distant relationship with her mom, and feels like she’s drowning in sorrow alone.
Her mother has been nagging her to get out, and convinces her to try Big Alice’s Sit and Knit in Providence, Rhode Island. As she knits, she learns about the other attendees, who are each trying to overcome their own dark seasons of life. From terminal illness and a past sexual assault to those trying to heal from losing loved ones on 9/11, the knitters share their pasts. As she bonds with them, Mary begins to process her own grief.
What to Expect in This Book
The individual stories that have brought the characters together are dark and depressing. While it’s ultimately a story of new friendship and healing, be aware that it’s not always an easy read.
Book Summary
Twenty years after the September 11 attacks, television journalist Avery Mason investigates the newly identified remains of Victoria Ford, who died in the World Trade Center.
Before her death, Victoria had been accused of murdering her married lover, a successful novelist who was found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The entire crime scene, including the rope from which he hung, was covered in Victoria’s DNA, but nevertheless she maintained her innocence. In a chilling phone call made from the North Tower, Victoria begged her sister, Emma, to prove her innocence. Because 9/11 abruptly ended the investigation and prevented her from standing trial, unanswered questions have lingered for two decades, and Emma will never have closure until she can finally clear his sister’s name.
Avery hosts a television show called American Events, and she knows this story will be just the ratings hit she needs to help her negotiate a more lucrative contract with her network. But her search for the truth will draw her into Victoria’s complicated past while threatening to expose secrets of her own.
What to Expect in This Book
While this is primarily a murder thriller, readers say that 9/11 remains relevant throughout the novel. The tragedy does more than provide a dramatic date or setting. Instead, Victoria’s death in the World Trade Center halts the original murder case, leaving her guilt unresolved, and setting up the circumstances through which the mystery is reopened two decades later.
Paper Airplanes
Book Summary
In 2001, Erin was on a beach with her best friend in Mallorca. The trip was to boost her friend’s spirits after a breakup, but everything else in Erin’s life was going great. She had a high-powered career in Manhattan and the perfect husband with lots of plans for the future.
Then she gets word that a plane has crashed into the building where Daniel works as a trader on the 101st floor. From the hotel bar, she watches his building collapse. She’s able to make it back to New York and relentlessly searches for any sign of Daniel, without any luck. A series of bad decisions involving too much alcohol and pills changes everything, forcing her to decide whether she can find her way back to happiness without Daniel.
About the Author
Like her main character, author Tabitha Forney’s husband, Billy, was in the North Tower on 9/11. However, instead of being on the 101st floor, he was on the 85th floor and survived. You can read Billy’s 9/11 story in his own words on his website.
When You Were Older
Book Summary
Russell worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center in New York City, but a phone call on his way out the door delayed him on the morning of September 11th, 2001. The call relays the devastating news that his mother has died of a stroke, but it also saves his life. As a result of that phone call, he is the only one of his colleagues to survive 9/11.
His mother had been the caregiver for his disabled older brother, so following her death, Russell returns to his tiny Kansas hometown to care for Ben.
More than a thousand miles away from NYC, Russell discovers that the terrorist attacks have also had a profound impact in middle America, where tensions are running high. He finds refuge drinking coffee each morning with a beautiful Egyptian-American woman in her father’s bakery. But just when he’s beginning to get his life back on track, an awful night threatens everything.
Thoughts on This Book
Our readers have loved many of Catherine Ryan Hyde’s books, so we are looking forward to digging into this backlist title.
The Girl He Used to Know
Book Summary
Annika prefers to be alone with a book and has trouble communicating with others, but she finds love in a chess club in college. Sadly, her relationship with Jonathan ended due to a tragedy. For the last ten years, she hasn’t seen him.
When they run into each other in a store, they begin talking again. However, before they can move forward, they have to deal with why they were separated in the past.
Why This Book Made the List
We debated whether to include this book on the 9/11 list for fear of spoilers, but if you are looking for a 9/11 read, take our word for it that the book fits the bill.
Hollow Bones
Book Summary
Molly was only two months old on September 11th, 2001, but that day changed the trajectory of her life. Her mother went to an appointment that morning at the World Trade Center and never came home. Though her father and stepmother gave her a beautiful life and loved her dearly, she grew up with a dread of disasters.
As an adult, Molly runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness and is charged with minimizing the loss of life during storms, epidemics, and airplane crashes. Her new husband works as a police polygraph expert, and their love for each other is a solace in this dangerous world.
But then something unexpected upends their marriage and makes them both question everything they thought they knew.
Consider This Before Reading
While not marketed as a sequel, this book shares characters with Picoult’s 2004 bestseller, My Sister’s Keeper, and does include spoilers for the ending of that book. So, if it’s on your TBR list, be sure to read it before Hollow Bones.
This novel features multiple POVs, and reviewers say you’ll change who you’re rooting for as the story evolves and moral dilemmas are introduced.
Check trigger warnings if needed, as some difficult topics are included.
Book Summary
One Saturday night, 28-year-old Cecily sits at a bar in NYC’s East Village feeling homesick. She’s uncertain if she’ll ever be able to make it as a reporter in the big city, and she’s second-guessing her decision to break up with her longtime boyfriend. She’s just about to call her ex when a man on a nearby barstool tells her not to do it. “You’ll regret it,” he says, and for some reason, she listens to him.
Several hours and several shots of tequila later, Cecily and Grant have sparked a connection. But it’s bad timing because Grant is preparing to change jobs and move overseas. Nonetheless, the two continue to form a relationship over the coming months.
But then, on 9/11/2001, Grant goes missing. When Cecily spots his face on a missing-person poster, she realizes she’s not the only one searching for Grant. Her investigative reporting instincts kick in, and Cecily is determined to find out whether Grant is really the man she thought she was falling in love with.
Windows on the World
Book Summary
Adapted from a screenplay, this graphic novel follows Fernando, a Mexican man who travels to grieving New York after 9/11 in search of his undocumented father who worked as a busser at the restaurant on the top floors of the World Trade Center North Tower.
Even after hearing nothing from his father for weeks after the tragedy, Fernando refuses to give up hope. He embarks on a quixotic mission across the border to search for his father in hopes of bringing him back home to Mexico. Along the way, Fernando experiences a warm embrace from fellow immigrants and a cold shoulder from NYC.
What to Expect in this Graphic Novel
While told in a graphic novel format, this is a serious story that explores immigration, family, inequality, and post-attack America. As you would expect, illustrations occupy every page and carry much of the setting, action, and emotion, but each page also contains substantial dialogue and captions. At 240 pages, it is a full-length, visually dense read.
Non-Fiction Books About September 11th
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
While this book takes place on September 11, 2001, and the following days, it’s not the constantly devastating story you would expect. Instead, this heartwarming book recounts the experiences of countless passengers from some of the 38 planes that were unexpectedly diverted to Newfoundland – an island in Canada’s easternmost province – when US airspace was closed on 9/11. On that day, the small town of Gander, with a population of just 10,000, received more than 6,600 passengers from 92 countries. Ganderites, along with residents of the surrounding towns, opened the doors to the local churches, schools, and even their own homes.
Throughout this book, you’ll not only learn the personal stories of the passengers, but you’ll also learn a lot about life on this tiny, remote island and about the unexpected hosts who welcomed strangers from around the world with open arms and generous hearts.
Our Thoughts on This Book
We’ve both seen and loved the musical Come From Away, so we already knew some of the story, but we learned so much more from this book. The selflessness of the residents of Gander and the surrounding towns will warm your heart page after page. It is one of the most uplifting, faith-in-humanity-restoring books we’ve ever read. The audiobook, narrated by Ray Porter, is especially well done.
The Only Plane in the Sky
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Compiled by an award-winning journalist and best-selling historian, The Only Plane in the Sky paints a human portrait of 9/11, telling the story of the day as it was lived and in the words of those who lived it.
This oral history brings together previously unpublished transcripts, recently declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly 500 individuals, including government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, family members, and friends.
Best in Audiobook Format
While you can certainly read this book, the audiobook version, read by a 45-person cast, is the most powerful way to experience this oral history. It won the 2020 Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year, and it was also a 2019 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee in the category of History and Biography.
Fall and Rise
Book Summary
Weaving together the narratives of the events in New York, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, this book provides a minute-by-minute account of September 11, 2001.
Mitchell Zuckoff was a reporter for the Boston Globe when 9/11 occurred, and in the following days and weeks, he wrote about the attacks, the victims, and their families.
In Fall and Rise, he gives voice to these intimate stories to ensure they are never forgotten. From an out-of-work actor trapped in an elevator in the North Tower of the World Trade Center to a veteran trapped in the inferno in the Pentagon to the fire chief who was among the first on the scene in Shanksville, this book provides new insights and avenues for understanding one of the worst days in American history.
Consider This Before Reading
This minute-by-minute account of the events of 9/11 is told through the eyes of those who lived it. At 625 pages, this book makes The Only Plane in the Sky’s 485 pages seem short, but it’s an extraordinary work that’s well worth reading.
102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers
Book Summary
While most books about 9/11 are told from the perspective of those looking in, this book tells the stories of those who were inside. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with rescuers, thousands of pages of oral histories, and countless phone, e-mail, and emergency radio transcripts, this book reconstructs the 102 minutes between the first plane striking the North Tower and the collapse of the second tower. It follows the experiences of people inside the World Trade Center almost minute by minute.
Accolades for This Book
102 Minutes was a 2005 National Book Award finalist for nonfiction and spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11
Book Summary
FDNY Chief Joe Pfeifer and his men were investigating an odor of natural gas in downtown Manhattan when they watched the first plane crash into the World Trade Center. This placed Pfeifer as the closest FDNY chief to the scene, so he immediately jumped into action, spearheading rescue efforts.
In this memoir, he provides his own account of what he witnessed at Ground Zero that day and in the days that followed. He tells of both the horror of the attack and the courage of the firefighters who risked their own lives to save others. Among those courageous men was Chief Pfeifer’s own brother, whom he sent up the stairs of the North Tower never to return.
Through this book, he invites readers to walk with him and his fellow firefighters through the weeks of grueling rescue efforts and the months of numbing grief as they struggle with the meaning of heroism and leadership.
Updated Edition
Penguin Random House is publishing an updated edition of this book on August 25, 2026. It appears that the content of the memoir will not change, but that it will include a new epilogue added for the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy.
Book Summary
Welles Crowther grew up in Nyack, New York. As a boy, his dad gave him a red bandanna and told him to keep it in his back pocket in case he ever needed it. It became his signature, and he even wore it wrapped around his head when he played lacrosse for Boston College.
Welles was an honor student, but not valedictorian; a Division 1 athlete, but not a star; and kind-hearted, but not saintly. After college, he took a finance job with an office on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. But his desk job didn’t make him feel completely fulfilled, so he also spent time volunteering with the local fire department in Nyack. Nonetheless, his father – a fellow volunteer firefighter – was stunned when Welles told him he was thinking of quitting finance and applying to work for the FDNY. But 9/11 happened, and Welles lost his life before he had the chance to make the career change.
Like so many families who lost loved ones on 9/11, his family found it unbearable not knowing what happened to him in his final hours. Eight months after the attacks, his mother read a news account that changed everything.
A survivor who had been badly hurt on the 78th floor of the South Tower recounted how a stranger led her and others down nearly 20 flights of stairs while carrying a woman on his back. After emerging from a stairwell and being met by firefighters who led them to safety, that same man turned and went back up the stairs. More accounts emerged about the man making multiple trips up and down the stairs, leading new groups to safety. No one knew his name, but one detail stood out – he was wearing a red bandanna.
Finally, Welles’ parents knew they’d found answers about their son. They sent the woman a photo, and she confirmed that it was him. As the story spread, Welles was honored as an FDNY fireman – the first time in history that the New York City Fire Department named a civilian to its ranks as an officially recognized member.
Years later, when President Obama spoke at the opening of the 9/11 Museum, it was Welles’ story that he told. And now there are Red Bandanna races held in Welles’ honor – a tradition that began at Boston College and has spread around the country.
Book Summary
Welles Crowther grew up in Nyack, New York. As a boy, his dad gave him a red bandanna and told him to keep it in his back pocket in case he ever needed it. It became his signature, and he even wore it wrapped around his head when he played lacrosse for Boston College.
Welles was an honor student, but not valedictorian; a Division 1 athlete, but not a star; and kind-hearted, but not saintly. After college, he took a finance job with an office on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. But his desk job didn’t make him feel completely fulfilled, so he also spent time volunteering with the local fire department in Nyack. Nonetheless, his father – a fellow volunteer firefighter – was stunned when Welles told him he was thinking of quitting finance and applying to work for the FDNY. But 9/11 happened, and Welles lost his life before he had the chance to make the career change.
Like so many families who lost loved ones on 9/11, his family found it unbearable not knowing what happened to him in his final hours. Eight months after the attacks, his mother read a news account that changed everything.
A survivor who had been badly hurt on the 78th floor of the South Tower recounted how a stranger led her and others down nearly 20 flights of stairs while carrying a woman on his back. After emerging from a stairwell and being met by firefighters who led them to safety, that same man turned and went back up the stairs. More accounts emerged about the man making multiple trips up and down the stairs, leading new groups to safety. No one knew his name, but one detail stood out – he was wearing a red bandanna.
Finally, Welles’ parents knew they’d found answers about their son. They sent the woman a photo, and she confirmed that it was him. As the story spread, Welles was posthumously named an Honorary Firefighter by the FDNY in recognition of his heroism.
Years later, when President Obama spoke at the opening of the 9/11 Museum, it was Welles’ story that he told. And now there are Red Bandanna races held in Welles’ honor – a tradition that began at Boston College and has spread around the country.
Chasing Butterflies: The True Story of a Daughter of 9/11
Book Summary
Ashley Bisman was in her high school history class on the morning of 9/11/2001 when she began hearing whispers of terrorists crashing planes. She ran through the halls to the school’s main office where a television was broadcasting the news with images of the Twin Towers on fire. Ashley’s dad worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1, and she knew in that moment that she’d never see him alive again. He was never found – only his credit card was recovered.
Later, as a grown woman living in the same city where her father was killed, her search for a meaningful relationship leads her downtown to the very place she swore she’d never set foot again.
More About This Memoir
This memoir offers the perspective of a child who lost a parent on 9/11. It’s equal parts Bisman’s love letter to her father and a story of a young woman struggling to return to the “normal” life she lived before the attack rather than being viewed as a victim.
Threading My Prayer Rug: One Woman’s Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim
Book Summary
This memoir begins with Sabeeha recounting her journey from Pakistan to New York in the 1970s. She provides a sweetly funny, moving account of the arranged marriage that brought her to the US, and undercuts stereotypes as she shares her stories of building a life far from home while navigating the challenges of immigration, marriage, and motherhood. She also talks about the challenges of reconciling Pakistani traditions with American life, confronting issues of raising her children as Muslims in a society where their religion is often misunderstood and while the kids lobbied for a Christmas tree!
Her memoir becomes especially poignant after September 11, when Muslim Americans face heightened suspicion and fear, forcing Rehman and her family to confront questions of belonging, prejudice, and what it means to be both Muslim and American.
What to Expect in This Memoir
This memoir is described as warm, candid, and often humorous. It offers a deeply personal look at family, faith, community, and the immigrant experience both before and after 9/11.
Middletown, America: One Town’s Passage from Trauma to Hope
Book Summary
Middletown, New Jersey lost more people on 9/11 than any other community outside of New York City. Journalist Gail Sheehy spent two years following families and residents of this town through their grieving process, and she tells the stories of many widows, children, spouses, neighbors, and community members as their grief and recovery unfolded over time.
Through the pages of this book, you’ll also meet some of the women who became known as the “Jersey Girls” — four New Jersey widows who had little previous involvement in politics but found themselves pushing for answers about intelligence failures, government accountability, and the events leading up to 9/11.
9/11 in Young Adult & Middle Grade Fiction
Ground Zero
Book Summary
This novel is told in alternating points of view from the perspectives of Brandon, a 9-year-old boy trapped in the World Trade Center on 9/11, and Reshmina, an 11-year-old living in Afghanistan on September 11, 2019.
When Brandon went to work with his dad on a beautiful September day, he never could have imagined the nightmare that awaited him. Trapped with his father inside a fiery nightmare, the two struggle to survive and escape, not knowing what world they’ll find outside if they do.
In 2019, Reshmina dreams of peace and unity, but she’s growing up in the shadow of war. When she ends up harboring a wounded young American soldier, she and her entire family are put in mortal danger. Along the way, Reshmina also learns something surprising about the roots of the seemingly endless war.
Thoughts on This Book
Book Girl Angela was first introduced to author Alan Gratz by her tween son. Now a teen, her son has written everything Alan Gratz has written, and he still counts Ground Zero among his favorite books. Adult readers say that Gratz’s books are both well researched and emotionally compelling, providing a look at historical events from multiple perspectives.
Thoughts on This Book
Book Girl Angela was first introduced to author Alan Gratz by her tween son. Now a teen, her son has read everything Alan Gratz has written, and he still counts Ground Zero among his favorite books. Adult readers say that Gratz’s books are both well researched and emotionally compelling, providing a look at historical events from multiple perspectives.
Eleven
Book Summary
September 11th, 2001, was always going to be a big day for Alex Douglas because it was his 11th birthday. Having always wanted to be a hero, Alex rescued a stray dog as a birthday gift to himself. Life seemed pretty great, but little did he know what else the day had in store for him and his new dog, Radar.
The publisher describes this as a story about bullies and heroes. About tragedy and hope. About enemies with two legs and friends with four, and pesky little sisters and cranky old men, and an unexpected lesson in kindness delivered with a slice of pizza.
Thoughts on This Book
Keep in mind that this is a middle-grade title, so the writing itself may feel pretty light to adult readers, but the book still packs plenty of emotional punch.
If you are looking for a book about September 11th that reminds you how the world came together in the aftermath of the tragedy, readers say they loved all of the kindness and compassion that spills out from the pages of the book.
The Usual Rules
Book Summary
It’s a typical September day for 13-year-old Wendy. She’s mad at her mom, impatient with her little brother, annoyed with her stepfather, and eager to make plans with her best friend. But just an hour after walking out the door to catch the bus to school, everything changes. The news reports that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center – her mother’s office building.
Through the eyes of this young teen, we get a glimpse into a side of 9/11 that we didn’t see on the news. As the hours pass, the family comes to the slow, terrible realization that Wendy’s mom didn’t survive.
After having been absent for years, Wendy’s real father suddenly reappears and whisks her away to California to start a new life. Living in a one-room apartment, her new circle includes her father’s cactus-growing girlfriend, a homeless skateboarder, and a sad bookstore owner who introduces Wendy to the story of Anne Frank and to his autistic son.
As fall turns to winter, and winter turns to spring, Wendy continues to feel torn between her old life and her new. She misses her mother and home in Brooklyn 3,000 miles away, and each day she learns something new about her father. And through it all, Wendy maintains a deep connection to her younger brother back in New York who is forced to grieve the loss of their mother without his big sister by his side.
Thoughts on This Book
The writing style of this book is described as both wry and heartbreaking, with a story of hope, healing, and forgiveness that resonates with young and old readers alike.
Towers Falling
Book Summary
Fifth grader Dèja Barnes has enough to worry about after her family moves into a Brooklyn homeless shelter. At her new school, a class project asks students to explore the meaning of home, community, and the September 11 attacks – an event Dèja barely understands because she was not yet born.
With help from her new friends, Ben and Sabeen, she begins connecting the tragedy to New York City, the nation, and her own family. As difficult truths emerge – like why her Pop gets so angry when she brings up anything about the Twin Towers – Dèja must reconsider what history means.
Thoughts on This Book
While many of the YA and Middle Grade titles on this list tell the stories of kids who lived through 9/11, Towers Falling is a powerful story about young people who weren’t alive yet on that fateful day, but for whom that moment in history still has a major impact on their lives.
All We Have Left
Book Summary
In 2001, Alia is a Muslim teenager, and of those two identifiers, it’s being a teenager she found more difficult. After being grounded for a stupid mistake, Alia decides to head into Manhattan to confront her dad at work in an effort to prove her independence. But she could never have imagined the danger that decision would put her in. When planes collide with the Twin Towers, she ends up trapped inside one of the buildings. With flames raging around her, she meets a boy who changes everything.
In the present-day storyline, 16-year-old Jesse lives with echoes of the past. She was just a baby when her older brother died in the September 11th attacks. Since then, her home has been filled with her dad’s anger and grief. When Jesse finds herself hanging out with the wrong crowd, a momentary hate-fueled decision turns her life upside down. In an effort to make amends, Jesse will be forced to confront her family’s past, and along the way she’ll learn the truth about how her brother died.
About the Author
Author Wendy Mills stated in an interview that she was inspired to write the character of Alia after hearing a Muslim friend describe the feeling of being pressured to apologize continually for 9/11. When she chose to write about September 11th, she felt that the Muslim American perspective was essential to the story, so she met weekly with a group of Muslim community members to learn as much as she could about everyday experiences, ranging from fasting during Ramadan and making up prayers missed during school to choosing and styling headscarves and finding halal food. She also received input on the novel from Muslim friends throughout the writing and revision process.
The Memory of Things
Book Summary
Sixteen-year-old Kyle watches from the window of his high school as the first tower falls on September 11, 2001, then flees home to safety across the Brooklyn Bridge. Along the way, he stumbles across a girl hiding in the shadows, covered in ash and wearing a pair of costume wings.
He’s unable to reach his dad, an NYPD detective who is likely headed to the scene of the disaster, and his mom and sister are away in California. Unsure what to do, Kyle makes the split-second decision to bring the girl home with him. From that decision forward, their stories are told in alternating points of view as Kyle tries to unravel the mystery of the girl so he can find her family. But does she even remember who she is?
Thoughts on This Book
This YA novel balances a sweet teen romance with the tragedy of 9/11.
If You Like This List, You’ll Love the Fall Challenge!
Our free self-paced reading challenge will keep you reading engaging books throughout the autumn season. To make it easy and fun, we include highly-rated book recommendations for each of the four fall reading prompts.
In Honor of the Semiquincentennial
The United States is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. Join us for our Reading Through US History Mini Reading Challenge to explore pivotal moments in the country’s history.
