In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years after the 9/11 Attacks

by Don Brown, Don Brown (Illustrator)

Overview

Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist

A graphic novel chronicling the immediate aftermath and rippling effects of one of the most impactful days in modern history: September 11, 2001. From the Sibert Honor– and YALSA Award–winning creator behind The Unwanted and Drowned City.

The consequences of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, both political and personal, were vast, and continue to reverberate today. Don Brown brings his journalistic eye and attention to moving individual stories to help teens contextualize what they already know about the day, as well as broaden their understanding of the chain of events that occurred in the attack’s wake.

Profound, troubling, and deeply moving, In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers bears witness to our history—and the ways it shapes our future.

Read more books by Don Brown:

• 83 Days in Mariupol: A War Diary
• Run and Hide: How Jewish Youth Escaped the Holocaust
• Fever Year: The Killer Flu of 1918
• The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063360983
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 10.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Don Brown is the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and Sibert Honor–winning author and illustrator of many nonfiction graphic novels for teens and picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him “a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies.” He lives in New York with his family.

booksbybrown.com

Instagram: @donsart

Don Brown is the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and Sibert Honor–winning author and illustrator of many nonfiction graphic novels for teens and picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him “a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies.” He lives in New York with his family.

booksbybrown.com

Instagram: @donsart

Editorial Reviews

★ "Once again, Brown shows his mastery of the graphic format for portraying humanity in the most trying of circumstances." — Horn Book (starred review)

"With striking illustrations and immersive storytelling, this is a helpful primer for young readers who want to learn about the significance of 9/11." — New York Times

“An award-winning author/illustrator again masterfully applies his journalistic eye and art style to give facts, raise questions and put events into fresh perspective.” — San Francisco Chronicle

"A deeply moving account of the immediate aftermath and lasting effects of the largest terrorist attack on United States soil." — Kirkus Reviews

"A succinct and impactful look at one of America’s worst tragedies, skillfully rendered by one of comics journalism’s best." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

★ 08/30/2021

Commemorating 9/11 two decades after the tragedy, Sibert Honoree Brown (The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees) offers a visual recollection of Sept. 11, 2001, that both humanizes and poignantly remembers an overwhelming chapter in U.S. history, portraying the experiences of real individuals who lived through the attacks and their aftermath. Sourced extensively from news articles, documentaries, and reports, the quotes and harrowing, accessibly worded stories of survivors, first responders, volunteers, and soldiers are rendered in evocative, muted black lines and washes of watercolor. Panels adeptly guide and sustain reader attention, with perspectives or subject matter shifting as intensity builds. Two-thirds of the graphic novel centers New York City on and around September 11, though accounts from the Pentagon attack and Shanksville plane crash are included. Notable is Brown’s ability to depict, in this economical format, the event’s wide-ranging aftereffects, including Islamophobia, the physical and mental health toll on workers dismantling “the Pile,” and U.S. soldiers ending up on horseback in Afghanistan. An afterword provides updates through 2019, while additional back matter offers a heartbreaking read of the demographic statistics of victims, as well as an eight-page bibliography. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2021

Gr 7 Up—Brown's latest work of graphic nonfiction revisits September 11, 2001, and its aftermath in time for the tragedy's 20th anniversary. While filming a documentary about New York firefighters, French filmmaker Jules Naudet shifts his lens skyward as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center are struck by airliners and, ultimately, collapse. Using vivid phrases like "debris-strewn whirlwind," "ocean of rubble," and "snowfall of papers," Brown captions emotional illustrations that depict the wreckage of the towers and, later, the Pentagon. Scenes of family members and first responders alike searching for survivors in the following days, weeks, and months are juxtaposed with depictions of the United States' response to the attacks, including war in the Middle East and a rise in Islamaphobic incidents domestically. Alternating between war and recovery, the remaining pages end with a ceremony one year later where the names of the 2,753 victims are read aloud. Though for a different and more mature audience, Brown's second attempt at covering this topic (after 2011's America Is Under Attack) is a more comprehensive look at the tragedy for an older audience. With a palette of mostly cool or ashy watercolors, the red heat of the destruction abruptly and noticeably pops off the page. Varied panel layouts capture the frenetic pace of the emergency, while spreads offer powerful moments of pause. Detailed back matter includes an afterword, sobering statistics, source notes, and an extensive bibliography. Most of the subjects featured in the book are white. VERDICT A succinct and impactful look at one of America's worst tragedies, skillfully rendered by one of comics journalism's best.—Alec Chunn, Eugene P.L., OR

School Library Journal

2021-05-27
The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001 changed our world irrevocably.

Now, 20 years later, the reverberations of this grievous assault on the United States can still be felt. Sibert Honor–winning graphic novelist Brown uses lyrical prose and powerful illustrations to revisit the horrific events of the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and share with readers the profound and lasting effects they have had on the country and its residents. Based on the firsthand accounts of survivors, Brown chronicles some of the lesser-known stories of victims, first responders, and survivors in the days and years after the attacks. Readers will delve deeper into what they might already know about that morning as well as broaden their awareness of its harrowing aftermath. Brown’s effective use of color adds yet another dimension to the story: The panels are illustrated in shades of brown and gray, re-creating the bleak smoke- and dust-filled landscape of ground zero. Sudden bursts of violent red flames perfectly symbolize the devastating shock of the disaster and the urgent fight for survival. Extensive source notes, statistics, and citations as well as a poignant afterword make this graphic nonfiction title an important, powerful book for teen and adult readers alike.

A deeply moving account of the immediate aftermath and lasting effects of the largest terrorist attack on United States soil. (bibliography) (Graphic nonfiction. 14-adult)

Kirkus Reviews