I have read a lot of books - I receive books from publishers, I get books from NetGalley and Edelweiss - some books are good and some are not. I had foot surgery 3 weeks ago and am pretty much homebound - lots of reading but a bit stir crazy. My foot still hurts and sometimes it is hard to block it out and read for an extended period of time. Not with this book - I started it last night and probably would have stayed up to finish it except my tylenol pm kicked in :)
There have been other 9/11 books but this was fantastic. It follows the lives of 2 girls. One who was there on 9/11 and another who lives in the present dealing with the aftermath.
Alia is a Muslim just coming into her own. She is struggling with her parents - trying to get them to understand her ambition to be a graphic artist but failing miserably. On 9/11 she goes to the Twin Towers to try and talk her dad into letting her go to a special class.
Jesse is angry and frustrated. Her brother died on 9/11 but no one knows why he was even there - he wasn't supposed to be there. Her father won't talk about it, her mom keeps busy to avoid the issue and Jesse starts to hang around with the wrong people.
Told in alternating chapters this book tells about Alia's experiences and how Jesse finds out what happened to her brother on that fateful day.
I found it beautiful, haunting, and thought provoking. At first I wondered how appropriate it might be for my age level because of some language and the anger but I highly recommend this book. So good!
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