I waited and waited. Yesterday was the “book birthday” for Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin. My friends previewed the book (lucky them!) and recommended it as one of the best books of the year so far. So, of course, I ran to the bookstore to purchase it and started reading.
Wow! My friends were right! I didn’t live in New York City on that tragic September 11th morning, but I know people who were there. I was teaching at the time in Indiana, and I had just walked my 5th grade class to the gym for specials. I heard my neighbor teacher running down the hallway, yelling into classrooms, “Turn on your tv! Something big is happening!” I didn’t know the impact of her words until several hours later. Tragedy. Loss. Pain. Togetherness. Hope. Love.
I loved the different perspectives in this story that starts a few days before September 11th–each person going about his/her own daily business. Just like me. It seems like we never think about the bigger world, until something happens that personally affects us. This book is filled with meaningful stories.
Add Nine, Ten to your reading list. You’ll be glad you did.
Reading Teacher Writes 