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.
Publishers Weekly
05/09/2016
With the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaching, Dèja’s fifth-grade teacher draws the students’ attention to the skyline outside their classroom window, pointing out where the towers once stood. At first, Dèja is unable to fathom how something that happened so long ago could have any bearing on her, especially when she has more immediate problems—her family is currently living in a shelter. But she learns that the events of 9/11 have a long reach, affecting those closest to her in ways large and small. Rhodes (Sugar) gives readers an approachable entry point to consider the terrorist attacks of 9/11, as well as homelessness, discrimination, divorce, and other subjects. Through Dèja’s interactions with classmates from a range of backgrounds (Dèja is African-American, and her new friends Sabeen and Ben have Turkish and Mexican heritage, respectively), readers will develop a richer understanding of what it means to be American, as well as the interconnectedness of the present and past. Rhodes approaches a complex, painful topic with insight and grace, providing context to an event distant to the book’s audience. Ages 8–12. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (July)
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
Additional praise and awards for Jewell Parker Rhodes' books:
Ninth Ward was named a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, a Notable Book for a Global Society, a CCBC Choices pick, a VOYA Top Shelf Fiction pick, an ALSC Notable Children's Book, an SLJ Best Book of the Year, an IndieBound Kids' Next List pick, a Parents' Choice Gold Award recipient, and an NYPL Top 100 Title for Reading & Sharing.
Sugar was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Kirkus Best Book of the Year, an IndieBound Kids' Next List pick, a Jane Addams Book Award winner, an IRA Top Chapter Books selection, and a CCBC Choices Pick.
Bayou Magic was an LA Times summer reading selection and a Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Books selection.
Towers Falling was an Indiebound Kids' Next List selection, a Junior Library Guild selection, one of Amazon's Best Books of the Month, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, a Seventeen Magazine Best Book of the Year, and a Notable Book for a Global Society.
School Library Journal - Audio
12/01/2016
Gr 4–7—The Avalon Family Residence might sound nice, but it's not: "peeling paint, cockroaches…our tiny room." Dèja, her parents, and her two younger siblings are homeless, currently staying in a Brooklyn shelter. Her father can't work, and her exhausted mother is menially employed. As Dèja starts fifth grade in a new school, she shields herself with bluster and anger against being judged, but she's surprised to find a welcoming teacher and even two wonderful friends. A series of class assignments about home, social circles, and relationships eventually lead Dèja to discover the tragic events of 9/11 for the very first time—and how the event has been directly affecting her own family ever since. Rhodes melds recent history with a timeless, resonating narrative celebrating family and friends; as immediate as 9/11 still feels for many, a whole generation has come of age in the ensuing 15 years. The author narrates, but unfortunately she is distractingly shrill and unnecessarily overwrought, especially when voicing Dèja. VERDICT As relevant as Rhodes's story is, readers are advised to turn to the page for the more compelling experience. ["Recommended as an addition to middle grade collections and as a classroom group reading title to help facilitate classroom conversations about 9/11": SLJ 3/16 review of the Little, Brown book.]—Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
School Library Journal
03/01/2016
Gr 4–6—As the 15th anniversary of September 11, 2001, approaches, it brings with it a time for profound reflection. Rhodes's new novel offers a way to discuss the events of 9/11 with children too young to remember this pivotal event. This well-paced novel follows Deja, a fifth grader whose father suffers from a chronic cough, depression, and anxiety, all of which prevent him from maintaining a job. As a result, Deja and her family have lost their apartment and are now living in a group home in Brooklyn. When Deja begins at a new school, she makes friends with a Muslim girl and a boy whose father is an Iraq War veteran. When their teacher begins a lesson about September 11, the three friends learn how the day's events relate to them as individuals and as part of their wider community. 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. VERDICT Recommended as an addition to middle grade collections and as a classroom group reading title to help facilitate classroom conversations about 9/11.—Pilar Okeson, Washington DC Public Library
AUGUST 2016 - AudioFile
Deja Barnes’s attitude is understandable. She’s living in a homeless shelter, her father is always angry, and she’s starting school in a wealthy Brooklyn neighborhood. Additional stress comes as the curriculum focuses on 9/11. Deja knows nothing of this event because her father has been hiding his story. Jewell Parker Rhodes expresses Deja’s strong feelings eloquently in her book. However, her overwrought narration seems as if she doesn’t trust the power of her writing. Feisty, tough Deja sounds shrill and accusatory. Portrayals of Deja’s new friends from Muslim and divorced backgrounds are presented more gently. While Rhodes's over-the-top delivery erodes the story’s tone of questioning and diminishes the important theme of connection, Deja does soften by the book’s end when she better understands her father. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
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)
