This novel weaves together the stories of four young people and how they each experienced the events of September 11, 2001, from different parts of the United States. Author’s Note.

The books starts out on September 9th, introducing the four kids that are in this story, Will, Sergio, Aimee, and Naheed, in the first chapter then go on by switching views every chapter. At the beginning of the book, they all are in the same airport and then go their separate ways. Sergio is in Brooklyn, New York and won a math award in Chicago, he doesn't have the best relationship with his dad, Sergio living with his grandmother, and his dad not in his life at all.. Aimee moves to California and her mother has to make a last minute meeting in New York World Trade center. Will live in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, throughout the story, tries to deal with his father's death. Naheed is a muslim who lives in Columbus, Ohio. In the story she has a friend named Eliza, who Naheed unintentionally hurts her feelings. Will goes on a biking trip with his friends and his crush and unintentionally her feeling to be ignoring her. Sergio decides to skip school because of his dad appearing earlier, then he meets Gideon, a fireman, on the train station and they become quick friends after Sergio help him save a man's life. Aimee goes to her new school and fears, from what the other students were saying, that her parents are getting divorced. That was September 10th, then it goes on to the early morning of September 11th. Aimee has her mom on the phone before she goes to her meeting, and she decides the skip it to talk to her daughter. Will tries to apologize to his crush, Claire and she tells him she likes him too, then flight 93 flew overhead and crashed in the distance. Back in Ohio, Naheed apologies to Eliza, then a school announces the attacks that have happened, and on Nasheed's way back home school kids talk that it was muslims, that obviously made Naheed anxious. Luckily, Aimee’s call held back her mom and she wasn’t hurt. Sergio watches the attacks on the Trade Centers for his distance. The book end end with going to September 11, 2002 all these children going to the memorial service, and Naheed’s family being blocked from it by other americans.

This book is think was good, maybe I could have put it in more detail, but I think it was good. It seemed realistic, plotting its timeline before the actual event, showing that 9/11 was one of those events no one was expecting. All these kids going on with their lives, no foreshadowing to what was going to happen. In Sergio’s view this book pointed out that there was still some racism around that time, but during the event, “cops were not paying one bit of attention to all the black teenagers loitering outside the school,” meaning when it happened, nobody cared about the race, just about what was happening. The end pointed out thought that there was some blame to some innocent people, as the crowd formed to block Naheed’s family because they were muslim. The book says all the stories in a clear, no rush manner and explained there thought in clear detail. It begins and ends with saying that the sky was clear, that helped to paint the scene of the story. Even though it didn’t describe the event in great detail, it wasn’t trying to, it was saying how it was before it happened, and I think they did a good job describing that. i give it a four and a half for all that. ( )

The majority of the book sets up where the four kids are on 9/11 and what challenges they face: a Muslim girl bullied about her hijab; the daughter of a high-powered business woman who's flown to a meeting in New York; a boy in Shanksville, PA, whose dad has recently died; a boy in New York who finds a father figure in a firefighter he meets by chance. Some of those stories are more connected to central messages about 9/11 than others. It would probably work OK for fans of [b:Wonder|11387515|Wonder|R.J. Palacio|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1309285027s/11387515.jpg|16319487], but as a way of teaching 9/11 it's not ideal because 9/9 and 9/10 take up the majority of the book with little foreshadowing if you don't already know a fair amount about the events of the day. ( )

Will, Sergio, Aimee, and Naheed live in different parts of the United States, but their lives intersect at an airport on September 9th. They're all at the same airport, but each is caught up in their own worlds. Then we follow along through their daily lives on September 9th and 10th. Learning about their struggles and the things they’re worried about makes the reader care about each character. Will lives in Pennsylvania and has spent the last year trying to live without his dad, who died in a car accident. Sergio is angry at his absentee father, and the streets of New York City help him blend in when he decides to ditch school. Moving to California is hard on Aimee, who is upset that her mom is away in New York City on business and not there for her on her first day at a new school. Naheed has just started middle school in Ohio and, for the first time in her life, is feeling self conscious about the head scarf she wears as part of her faith. When the events of September 11th begin to unfold, each experiences what happens in a big way. How will their lives be impacted?


Nine, Ten: A September 11th Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin is a book that tells the story of September 11th in a way that middle grade children can understand. You get to see the evens through the eyes of the four kids, and it’s told as tastefully as possible, while still giving the facts. I like how this book brought to light the historical events of September 11th because anyone who is 17 or younger has no memory of the events on that day. All of the kids seemed realistic to me and I liked getting to know each of them. Learning about the days leading up to the tragedy was a unique way to understand more about the events of September 11th. I would recommend this to kids and adults from fourth grade and up. I especially recommend it for parents and kids to read this one together and have some important discussions. I’ve read other books by Nora Raleigh Baskin and enjoyed them, and I look forward to reading more of her books.
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I really enjoyed Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin. It was the book on the Nutmeg list that I was most excited to read, and it did not disappoint. I loved the way that the author told the story from the perspectives of four children. I think her goal was to show how that although we may come from different places, races, religions and backgrounds, that we are all interrelated. Without any of the characters losing someone close to them, the author managed to show that all Americans experienced loss that day, even if we did not directly know someone..
I do think this book would be best for grades 5 and up. The multiperspectivity could be difficult for some readers to follow. I also think there is a sense of maturity and empathy that readers must have in order to get the most out of the book.