The New York Times Book Review - Eliot Schrefer
…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.
New York Times bestselling author Linda Sue Park
History made personal—and what a person! Deja’s voice is real and memorable, her compelling story one of hope unmarred by sentimentality.”
Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling au Linda Sue Park
History made personal--and what a person! Deja's voice is real and memorable, her compelling story one of hope unmarred by sentimentality.
AudioFile
Jewell Parker Rhodes expresses Deja’s strong feelings eloquently in her book.”
School Library Journal
Rhodes’ new novel offers a way to discuss the events of 9/11 with children too young to remember this pivotal event. …This is a welcome contribution to children’s literature, on a topic not many authors have broached for this age group, and it will function well as a teaching tool. It reads easily and offers educators the opportunity to not only address the events of September 11 from a historical perspective but also from a social one. Themes include community, diversity, and socioeconomic disparities.”
Publishers Weekly
Rhodes approaches a complex, painful topic with insight and grace, providing context to an event distant to the book’s audience.”
New York Times Book Review
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.”
Kirkus Reviews
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.”
From the Publisher
Praise for Towers Falling:
"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
Kirkus Reviews
2016-03-30
Dèja Barnes doesn't want to stand out at the integrated Brooklyn Collective Elementary, and she wishes her family could move out of the Avalon Family Residence into a home; despite her fears, Dèja tackles new friendships, a new teacher, and the mystery behind her father's deep sadness.On the first day of fifth grade, the African-American girl makes fun of Mexican-American Ben's cowboy boots and Muslim Sabeen's cheery attitude, but despite her defensiveness, Dèja grows to appreciate her new friends' backgrounds. The trio draws from each of their experiences to help them navigate Miss Garcia's 9/11 curriculum. Dèja hates thinking about the past—her old best friend, her old neighborhood, her old home—yet the more she learns, the more she understands that this event affected her and every American. Rhodes pulls off the difficult feat of making a well-known story new. Sept. 11 is anchored in the minds of many readers, but for a new generation, it is history they learn in school, like Dèja. Through her eyes the event becomes fresh, heavy, and palpable, but at times 9/11 appears to be a competing rather than complementary protagonist. The cadences of the fifth-graders flow almost like slam poetry, emphasizing their feelings and senses over drawn-out descriptions or narration.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. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-12)
