Seven and a Half Tons of Steel

by Janet Nolan, Thomas Gonzalez (Illustrator)

Overview

The USS New York is big like other navy ships, and it sails like other navy ships, but there is something special about this navy ship.
Following the events of September 11, 2001, a beam from the World Trade Center Towers was given to the United States Navy. The beam was driven from New York to a foundry in Louisiana, where the seven and a half tons of steel, which had once been a beam in the World Trade Center, became a navy ship’s bow.
Powerful text from Janet Nolan is paired with stunning illustrations from New York Times best-selling illustrator Thomas Gonzalez (14 Cows for America) in this inspiring story that reveals how something remarkable can emerge from a devastating event.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561459124
Publisher:	Peachtree Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/01/2016
Pages:	36
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Janet Nolan is the author of several picture books. She has a BA from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and a master’s degree in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She lives in Illinois.

Thomas Gonzalez was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved to the United States as a child. An artist and painter, he directed campaigns for clients such as Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, NASCAR, the NFL, and McDonald’s, in addition to illustrating children’s books. He lives in Georgia.

Editorial Reviews

05/23/2016
After the twin towers fell on 9/11, one of the beams recovered from the site was melted in a foundry and used to form the bow of a Navy warship, the USS New York. Nolan (PB&J Hooray!) treats the attack gently (“The World Trade Center towers came down. Almost three thousand people lost their lives”), then moves on to the warship’s construction and triumphant launch. Gonzalez’s (Toad Weather) breathtaking spreads dazzle. Early on, he presents a quiet, haunting image of the catastrophe as a woman crosses a New York City street crowded with taxis. All appears normal until viewers notice a reflection in a car’s side mirror in the foreground, which shows one of the jets streaking toward its target. Later, sunset-illuminated cloudscapes form vast, stirring backdrops for the USS New York at sea. The emphasis is not on damage and destruction, but on America’s power to recover. Teachers and parents looking for picture books that celebrate the nation and its military will welcome Nolan and Gonzalez’s work. Ages 7–10. Author’s agent: Steven Chudney, Chudney Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Deborah Warren, East West Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2016
Gr 3–5—Nolan and Gonzalez have created a powerfully subtle work concerning the September 11, 2001, attacks and the U.S. Navy ship that contains refashioned tower wreckage in its structure. The book begins with 9/11 and the damage thereafter. One of the metal beams from Ground Zero was removed to a foundry in Louisiana, where it was reworked and shaped into the bow of the USS New York. The book also features another tragedy of the 2000s, as the USS New York's construction was affected by Hurricane Katrina. The text quietly guides readers through the narrative, with no more than a few sentences set on each page. Facts and figures related to the USS New York are presented after the main narrative. Gonzalez's full-page illustrations are brilliant, with every page plastered in heavy color. His bold palette, paired with folds and sharp edges, gives the work a fitting industrial ambience. The tones convey moods and action: deep reds, yellows, and oranges move across the metalworking furnace; black and gray clouds billow up from the towers across the page; and morning light streams bright against the hull of the ship. Images of destruction are shown respectfully yet dramatically. VERDICT This beautiful, sober, and hopeful recounting of a difficult chapter in American history is a stellar addition to history collections.—Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant Public Library, IA

School Library Journal

2016-05-18
A reverent account of the creation of a seagoing 9/11 memorial fashioned by incorporating part of one of the fallen towers into the hull of a Navy ship.Following a wordless, powerful sequence in which a seemingly ordinary jet flies peacefully through a cloudless sky and then directly into a tower, Nolan opens by noting that there is "something different, something special" about the seemingly ordinary USS New York. In the tragedy's aftermath, she explains, a steel beam was pulled from the wreckage and sent to a foundry in Louisiana. There, workers melted it down, recast and shaped it, and sent it to New Orleans, where, notwithstanding the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, it was incorporated into the bow of a new ship of war. Gonzalez echoes the author's somber, serious tone with dark scenes of ground zero, workers with shadowed faces, and views of the ship from low angles to accentuate its monumental bulk. Though Nolan goes light on names and dates, she adds a significant bit of background to the overall story of 9/11 and its enduring effects. Backmatter includes a cutaway diagram and some additional facts, including the incorrect claim that the ship's Skyline Café is named for a restaurant on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center. A deeply felt but not overwrought telling of a story that will be new to most young readers. (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews

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