I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Lauren Tarshis's I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 is a careful, very moving story for 9 year olds about a firefighter's son who sneaks into New York on the morning the Twin Towers are hit.

What happens

For eleven-year-old Lucas Calley, football is his whole world. (That's American football, the kind with pads and face masks.)

It was Uncle Benny who got him playing. Benny is a huge cheerful firefighter with a shamrock tattoo, and he works with Lucas's dad. He more or less moved in two years ago, when Lucas's dad was badly burned in a warehouse fire.

Dad came home quiet, and the model fire engine they were building together is still half-finished in the basement.

Now Lucas has had his third concussion, and a doctor says he has to stop playing. For good.

So he skips school, catches a train into the city and heads for the firehouse. Uncle Benny will sort it out.

They're out on the pavement talking when a plane comes over, far too low.

Up to here it's been an ordinary boy with an ordinary heartbreak. That's why the morning hits so hard.

You see it the way Lucas does. From the street, and then on the firehouse TV while he washes up the breakfast things. His questions are a child's questions. Is the pilot ill? Is somebody making a film?

The firefighters are the heroes. When Lucas asks Uncle Benny what they'll do, he says they'll do what they always do.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The planes hitting the towers are described, and Lucas and his dad are caught in the dust when one tower comes down.

What Lucas sees for himself is fire, smoke and people who are hurt. He hears about the deaths afterwards, and some are firefighters he knows. His dad's burns and the four firemen who died in the warehouse are backstory, told early.

It could be very upsetting for a child who's anxious about planes, fires or a parent with a dangerous job. And if they don't know about that day yet, they'll have a LOT of questions.

If your reader has started asking, though, this is a gentle and honest place to begin (ideally with you next to them). They don't need any other I Survived book first, although this is the sixth.

What to read next

Dex, in I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011, would understand Lucas. His big brother is a Navy SEAL on a secret mission, and Dex lies awake thinking of everything that could go wrong. It's a good one to try next.