Jewell Parker Rhodes is a master of storytelling for young people, and Towers Falling is no exception. Set 15 years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Towers Falling is a powerful tale about a classroom of students in Brooklyn who weren’t alive on 9/11 but come to understand the long-lasting effects the tragedy has had on their community, families and the world as a whole.
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.
Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author of Ninth Ward, a Coretta Scott King honor book, Sugar, winner of the Jane Adams Peace Association book award, Bayou Magic, and Towers Falling. She has also written many award-winning books for adults.
On the anniversary of September 11th, we are once again struck by how vivid our memories of that day are, and yet today’s children do not have those memories. How to talk to today’s children about that day that happened before they were born? Here are some texts that handle the topic with both age-appropriateness, […]
Jewell Parker Rhodes is one of the best middle grade writers there is when it comes to tackling tough, heartbreaking history with compassion and hope. The history she writes about includes the very recent past—things that have happened during the lifetimes of young readers that their own children will be reading about in school down […]
