Smoke at the Pentagon: Poems to Remember
by Jacqueline Jules (Author) Eszter Anna Rácz (Illustrator)
Told in the voices of young people, a novel in verse about the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
"A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern collections."--School Library Journal
On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. One hundred and eighty-four innocent people were killed. The event occurred at 9:37 a.m. and was part of a coordinated terrorist attack against the United States involving four hijacked flights.
Author Jacqueline Jules, who was a school librarian in Arlington, Virginia on 9/11, tells the story of that day through a tapestry of poems. These poems tell the stories of young people from all aspects of the Arlington and Pentagon communities and are composites drawn from personal experiences with students and friends residing in Northern Virginia at the time of the attack.
September 11th changed childhoods. Anyone old enough to remember that day will never forget, but today's children need to be told the story.
Excerpt:
My teacher, Mr. Peters, stops mid-sentence, steps sideways
to lean over the monitor on his desk. His mouth drops open.
He looks like a fish gulping air.
The room stays silent
until he finally speaksto say something about planes
hitting New York and us.
"The Pentagon is on fire," he says.
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School Library Journal
Gr 1-6--How do we remember tragedy? Which moments do we carry with us, and which do we try to forget? Moreover, what do we preserve for history and teach to our children? With these powerful questions as its driving force, a new collection of poetry revisits the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of youth. The book's 20 poems unfold roughly in chronological order, beginning in classrooms on the morning of the 11th and moving to homes and the surrounding community in the following hours, days, and weeks. Drawing from her experience as a school librarian in Arlington, VA, Jules inhabits an array of identities--mostly teenagers, with a few elementary-aged children and one young adult. Each poem's first-person narration evokes a subtly different shade of emotion, ranging from shock to sorrow, from fear to anger, from uncertainty to resolve, honoring the complexity of the societal response to the attack. Potent simile ("He looks like a fish gulping air," "the fear I feel inside, / like a helium balloon slowly leaking") and personification ("a building that's bruised/ and burnt") heighten the immediacy of the events. In expressionistic collage art, Rácz depicts a diverse cast of characters, their downcast faces and slumped body language suggesting a deep and heartfelt period of mourning. VERDICT A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern collections.--Jonah Dragan
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV016190 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 21st Century
JUV070000 - Juvenile Fiction | Poetry (see also Stories in Verse)
