Here's the thing....I am waiting for a book right along these lines to come from Aaron Becker (one of my favorite illustrators). So I kept comparing this book to what I am anticipating. That's on me. Additionally, I knew there was a wordless subplot transpiring but do you want the truth? It's not obvious it is an uncle/niece relationship. I wanted more details.....especially because it was a diverse family!!! It would have so cool to focus on (especially because I am on the fence as to whether or not the uncle died)

What I did love reading was the author's notes about limbs from this survivor tree. Going to other locations that have had their own tragedies. Bringing hope. That is a message that needs to carry throughout the world--especially in times like these. ( )

Branches of Hope is the story of the Callery pear tree that survived the horrors of 9/11. Standing just at the base of one of the World Trade Centers, this tree somehow survived the wreckage despite all of the debris and wreckage. The tree was taken to a nursery and nursed back to health. 10 years later, on the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in human history, the tree was planted back into its original home, in the memorial park to honor the victims of the attack. Very powerful book, with meaningful illustrations. The tree represents hope in times of adversity. It is so important to remember times like these, and this book is one of many that contribute a lot to preserving the good within the bad.

This book was okay. I liked it but at the same time, it is not my favorite book I have read. I guess I am just so obsessed with history and the events, sequencing, and people's tellings of the event that I let it cloud my expectation. I was expecting more of a story historical fiction take on the book.
This book follows a tree that was by the twin tower when September eleventh happened. The tree is discovered by a rescue worker and then relocated in hopes of it growing again. The tree grows and regains/regrows the branches that had been burned/destroyed the day the towers fell. As time passes it continues to grow and people are begging to put together a memorial for the lives that had been lost during the acts of terrorism. In the end, the tree is taken from its growing spot and relocated back by the towers in the memorial and is acknowledged as the only surviving tree from before the attacks. ( )

On a bright, sunny morning in September, when two skyscrapers came crashing down in lower Manhattan, brought low by one of the worst terrorist attacks in human history, the mounds of charred metal and debris buried a small Callery pear tree, formerly standing at the base of the World Trade Center. Astonishingly, this tree survived, clinging to life amidst the wreckage. When its few remaining green leaves were noticed by a rescue worker, the tree was excavated and evacuated, taken to a nursery in the Bronx, and slowly nursed back to health. Then, in 2011, on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it was returned to its former home, incorporated into the memorial park built to honor the victims of that terrible day...

It's hard for me to believe, but this coming September 11th will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. As notable dates and anniversaries tend to find their way into children's publishing, it is less surprising that a number of picture-books have either recently been published, or are forthcoming on the subject. Quite a few of them address the story of the survivor tree - a symbol of hope in dark times. May of this year saw the release of this title from author Ann Magee and illustrator Nicole Wong, as well as author/illustrator Sean Rubin's This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth. This coming August will bring author Marcie Colleen and illustrator Aaron Becker's Survivor Tree. In August of this past year (2020), Miracle of Little Tree: The 9/11 Survivor Tree's Incredible Story was released. Although quite popular recently, the story seems to have first been retold in picture-book form in 2011, on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, in Cheryl Somers Aubin and Sheila Harrington's The Survivor Tree: Inspired by a True Story.**

Obviously, the tale of the survivor tree is an aspect of the larger 9/11 story that is considered very powerful, and particularly suitable for children. Perhaps this is because it symbolizes, not just the terrible hurt and damage done by the terrorist attack and its aftermath, but also the strength of survivors, their resilience, courage and gradual healing. It is a story of hope, and Magee and Wong capture that sense of hope here. I found myself weeping on more than one occasion, as I read this one, and I found both story and artwork immensely moving. This appears to be Magee's debut, which makes it particularly impressive. I wasn't sure at first that I cared for the opening scenes, in which the calamity of 9/11 intrudes, with no explanation given in the text as to what is going on, but then it occurred to me that this was a story from the tree's perspective, and that human actions and affairs would seem well-nigh incomprehensible to our arboreal friends at the best of times. This realization made the opening scenes even more powerful to me, and I appreciated how the narrative from the tree's perspective was paired with visuals that depicted both the events surrounding the tree, and the life of a family experiencing 9/11 and its aftermath. The artwork here from Wong, whose illustrations I know from Kate Milford's Bluecrowne and The Raconteur's Commonplace Book, was just lovely, and I appreciated the fact that a mixed-race family was depicted.

All in all, an immensely powerful and poignant book, one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for 9/11 stories that emphasize hope and healing. For my own part, I plan to track down some of the other titles mentioned here, to see how they handle this tale.

** Readers might be interested to know that there is another survivor tree in the annals of terrorist attacks on America. After the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995, a small elm tree survived the wreckage of the Alfred P. Murrah Building, eventually going on to thrive, and to be christened "the survivor tree" as well. That story is told for children in Gaye Sanders and Pamela Behrend's The Survivor Tree. ( )