I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001

I Survived

by Lauren Tarshis, Scott Dawson (Illustrator)

On the day that shocks the world, one boy just wants to find his dad. A powerful addition to the gripping I SURVIVED series.The only thing Lucas loves more than football is his Uncle Benny, his dad's best friend at the fire department where they both work. Benny taught Lucas everything about football. So when Lucas's parents decide the sport is too dangerous and he needs to quit, Lucas has to talk to his biggest fan.So the next morning, Lucas takes the train to the city instead of the bus to school. It's a bright, beautiful day in New York. But just as Lucas arrives at his uncle's firehouse, everything changes -- and nothing will ever be the same again.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Historical

117 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

Lauren Tarshis often wonders how she came to spend most of her waking moments thinking about disasters, as the author of the children's historical fiction series "I Survived." Each book takes readers into the heart of history's most thrilling and terrifying events, including the sinking of the Titanic, the Shark Attacks of 1916, Hurricane Katrina, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the San Francisco earthquake, 9/11, and the Battle of Gettysburg. Writing these books often makes her feel very nervous, as though at any moment a volcano could erupt right outside her window. Then again, she has learned a thing or two about avoiding being eaten by a shark.
Lauren is also the author of the the award-winning Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and its sequel, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love.

For more information, go to her website: www.LaurenTarshis.com

And check out the I Survived Website: www.Scholastic.com/ISurvived

Reviews

[Suhailah · Rating 5 out of 5]

◇ 6th installment of the young readers series “I Survived”◇

Though I fortunately resided in Florida and had no loved ones living in New York at the time, 9/11 still affected me as it ultimately shaped the world I grew up into. As a millennial, it was one of my first exposures to a global threat. I vividly remember sitting in my 5th grade classroom watching the horrors of the live footage…those haunting images of the planes…seeing my teacher gasp in horror with tears in her eyes, the panic spreading amongst us all as we watched the tragedy unfold while attempting to understand what it meant. It was the day I fully became aware of the dangers that could so easily consume us as a nation. And to this day, I have PTSD symptoms when it comes to airplanes and buildings.

My Thoughts:
🗽Another buddy listen with my husband! My husband is much more personally and deeply attached to the effects of this tragedy as he was born in New York and actually visited the twin towers several times as a child. So, anything on this topic really hits him hard. We have annual sobbing sessions watching 9/11 documentaries.

🗽I liked the underlying plot about football and concussions. It’s an important topic. The main character Lucas goes through quite an unexpected turn of events. Sometimes it takes a tragedy to realize what’s most important in your life.

🗽We loved Uncle Benny! He was one of our favorite characters!

🗽As always, definitely read or listen to the author’s note. Lauren Tarshis was not planning on writing about the 9/11 topic in this series because it was so personal to her but did it to please her many reader’s requests. She was actually on a plane on the day the tragedy occurred! How terrifying!

We are excited to continue with the series!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tuesday - September 11, 2001 - 8:46 a.m. - New York City

Lauren Tarshis (who was on a plane that fateful morning herself) had no plans to include the attacks of September 11 in her I SURVIVED series, but after over a thousand emails from kids, after speaking to teachers and librarians, she began to understand why so many wanted this story told.

"September 11 shaped the world you were born into. It's only natural you would be curious about it. I hope my story gives you a sense of that day - the fear and the courage, the sense of horror and shock."

The story in I SURVIVED #6 is very well-written for the children, and the eerie timeline data of the commercial jet crashes in the afterward brings to life what happened that horrid day in the history of the USA. Tarshis also provides details of who committed the attacks, how the United States responded and describes the awesome memorial and museum now at the site.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Survived: The Attacks Of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis presents details about the events that took place on the day that shocks the world; one boy just wants to find his dad. A powerful addition to the gripping I SURVIVED series.

Noah has always been proud of his father -- a brave New York City firefighter. So Noah is thrilled when his dad plans a special outing for Noah's 11th birthday -- they're taking a school day off to spend in the city, just the two of them!

The morning of September 11th dawns bright and clear. But in just under an hour, everything changes -- forever. The I SURVIVED series by Lauren Tarshis continues with another thrilling story of a boy caught in one of history's most terrifying disasters!

[Shawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son just turned 8 and does not enjoy fictitious books. He prefers facts about true events. I happened to see this book displayed at the library on Sept. 11th and grabbed it.

When we started reading it together, he was leary. By the end, he was wanting to research more on the internet.

Lauren Tarshis wove a fictional story about a boy named Lucas, whose father was a firefighter at the time of the 9/11 attacks around the actual events of 9/11. She totally hit the mark.

I found the book very age appropriate. It was written in such a way that it did not create nightmares, but allowed him to grasp the enormity of the tragedy that occured.

I recommend this book to any parent having trouble getting their children to read fictitious "chapter" books. This book met my son's need for information! I will certainly be looking for the rest of this series!

[Daniel Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the “I Survived” short book educational series for children of historical events. The attack of the World Trade Center buildings is told through the eyes of a fictitious 11 year old boy who goes downtown to see his firefighter uncle. However, the book seems more focused on the boy and his family than the attack.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I avoided bringing this book home for my kids (who love the series) for the same reasons Lauren Tarshis explains she avoided writing it - "The memories of that day remain sharp and terrifying." I wanted to protect them from it. But I realized that this is history to them, just like the others in the series, and that while most others in the series involve natural disasters, they're at an age where they're wanting to understand the history that humans have created. The story itself explains the morning through the eyes of a firefighter's son who was there, but focusing on his pretty realistic perspective and not so much the much-worse things happening to others. The end matter is really where the details come out - how many people died, who was responsible, how the U.S. responded, etc. My kids haven't actually read it yet - but if they pick it up I'll make sure they have a chance to talk about it after.

Update: After my daughter read this, I asked if she had any questions. They were: "Were the planes flying really low?" and "Why would somebody do that?" I answered the best I could. Then I asked if she had read the parts at the end and she said, "Nah" and started talking about something else. Which supports the idea that kids will absorb in books what they're ready to handle.

[Dylan Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brings back memories on 9/11.I really don`t recomend this for emotional new yorkers.I think this book is good for people that know noting about 9/11!I survived is a amazing series and i honesly tink Lauren Tarshis is a amazing auther.

[Tom Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book because it shows you cool stuff about 9/11 and it's about a kid who got hurt in football and then he told his uncle that it happens and when they were going on a walk a flew over then and it was really low it almost hit building but then he saw what it was aiming for 9/11!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on that fateful morning of 9/11. It was scary being 6 hrs away in the same state, I couldn't imagine how it felt being right there watching as those towers crumpled to the ground. The young boy in the story was right there in the midst of it all watching as everything happened. This is a good book to start off for telling the very young what happened on that day without going into many of the gory details. That they can wait until they are older.

[Will L · Rating 5 out of 5]

this breath taking book shows the sacrifice of the men and women who risked and lost there lives to help those who needed it the most in the tragedy it really shows how it effected family's everyday life . this book is about a young boy Lucas who got a concussion and went into new York city to tell his fathers friend and role model uncle Benny had gotten Lucas to play football Benny and Lucas father are both firemen so when Lucas is about to tell Benny that he couldn't play football anymore a plane crashed into the twin towers Benny ran back into the fire dept. and got ready in the end Lucas friend who worked at the fire dept. died when the tower fell .i would recommend this book to 10-12 years old because of the concept that littler kids wouldn't understand.

[Sara Skouson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to see if the content was OK for my 1st grader. Having lived through this it was still a little hard to read, but I think for my son it will be more like history and be fine. I thought it was a good story and great for children's literature to have a historical fiction book like this. It wasn't very graphic but did talk about the numbers of people who died and described the planes crashing into the towers and the towers collapsing and his dad and uncle are firefighters so that's a little scary too.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

**The kid and I did a reread via audio of this one for his summer reading assignment. I have to say that I enjoyed it more the second time around and the narrator was really good.**

Not my favorite of the series, but it did open up a discussion about September 11th with my son and helped him understand a little of what happened that day. I thought that the explaination of why the author wrote the book and questions and answers at the end of the book were great.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Overdrive app *

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The attacks of September 11, 2001 are very personal to me. My brother, a veteran of the NYPD, was watching the beautiful blue sky, while waiting for his car to be fixed, when he heard the "All Call," to report to his precinct. He had to get his wife out of Manhattan and then go back to dig for survivors. My uncle walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get out of the city. My cousins rode the ferry back to Staten Island while helping people who had been injured. Another cousin drove from Saratoga with cases of water to help the first responders. I wasn't sure I wanted to read this latest installment in the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis, but I am SO GLAD that I did. I read the "Why I wrote about September 11," first, and this helped me set a purpose for reading. So many of you were babies when this event in our history happened, but I was not, and I will always remember how I felt that day, so far away from my family, just waiting for news. I really connected with Lucas when he could not get through to his family on the phone because all of the telephone lines were jammed. Phew! Lauren Tarshis has done a masterful job of conveying the magnitude of this event in a story that you can understand and appreciate. It is a great addition to the "I Survived," series and I am thankful that Lauren Tarshis was brave enough to write it for you. Enjoy!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

September 11 is such an emotional, difficult thing to talk about. Every year, when I talk to the fifth graders, I get teary-eyed and have a hard time getting through it. For those of us that we’re alive when it happened, it’s a time we’ll always remember. I know we can all clearly remember where we were that day and how we felt as it was happening. I was in high school and I remember watching the news with my parents. We saw the second plane hit and it was so confusing trying to comprehend what was happening.

I thought Tarshis approached this event with understanding and feeling. It was well-written for students and captured the emotion of the moment in a relatable way for kids. As an adult I especially appreciated the epilogue.

[JMcDaniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was strange the main character wasn’t even in one of the twin towers when the planes hit, for Example it was just like saying you survived a shark attack on TV. The main character just watched the planes hit he WAS FINE.

[Dee Dee G · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of I survived helps make major events in history feel more real and makes a young reader be able to understand better.

[Jennifer McClurkan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book about one of the saddest days in America.

[Norberto Leyva · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a boy, Noah, who loves football more than anything. He gets a concussion during practice and has to go to the doctor. The doctor told him to come back afetr three weeks. He whines and complains to his parents about how unfair it is that he has to be out of football for this long. After the three weeks is up, he was hoping for good news. Unfortunately, the doctor tells him it will be longer than three weeks because this is his fourth concussion which is really bad for an 11 year old.
He skipped school without his parents knowing and took a subway to the fire station where his dad and uncle worked. It was the change in shifts and his uncle was just starting work but had someone else cover for him because his nephew wanted to talk to him about something important. They are walking toward the Twin Towers when they saw a plane flying really low and crashing into the first tower.
He tries to help the best he can while the fireman do their jobs. They go into a room in the tower and the room collapses. They get out safely but they didn’t know where the uncle was.
A couple days later, they go to a football game and see the uncle is alive but injured.

I would recommend this book to middle schoolers. Anyone who loves football or a point of view of someone who lived through a historic event would like this book.

[Zachary Peeters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response- This was a very good book. It changes subject a lot in random places, but other than that it is a great true story.

Plot- The main character Lucas loves to play football. Uncle Ben and Lucas went for a walk one day in downtown New York, when all of a sudden the first plane hit the tower. Then as they ran away another plane hits the other tower. There were a lot of injury's and deaths due to the plane hitting the towers.

Characterization-Lucas is the main character that loved to play football, but loved his Uncle Benny even more. When Lucas and Uncle Benny are walking through downtown New York they hear a loud jet engine roaring through the blue sky. They look up to see a giant jet hit one of the twin towers. Lucas's uncle and dad are firefighters so they both have to run to their station and get to the towers.


Recommendation-I recommend this book to all middle schoolers, both girls and boys. It is a very easy to read book and to understand some of the history behind the towers falling. I give this a four out of five stars.

[C.J. O'B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Attacks of September 11th, 2001, by Lauren Tarshis was a great book, explaining the life of someone who lived during the time of one of the most tragic events in U.S. history. Right when the first plane hit the first tower in the story, my heart started racing. The author really made it feel like I was there when it happened. I would recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy a book written by a great author, and a thriller that will make you feel all different emotions.

[Abel Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001" by Lauren Tarshis is an amazing book. this book kept me intrigued. I never stopped reading this book. It told a great story about a disaster.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with readers who struggle and/or English language learners in mind. The narrative is engaging enough for a high school student, and the language is simple enough that it can be navigated with a reasonable amount of independence.

[Sarah Monzon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Created an opportunity to talk about a lot of things with my son.

[Niko]

I think this book was great and alot of active stuff hapened

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still shakes me up reading about 9/11.

[Ireland Cranston]

This was a great book I have read many times about a boy who travels to town to see his uncle who works at the fire department. The planes flies into the towers and the story unfolds.

[Libby Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book I would say is a really interesting one. And one that got me interested in what else happened. It’s a really easy read and a good one at that.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how this would be handled since it's such recent (and still influential) history, but Lauren Tarshis does an excellent job telling the story in a truthful way that is still sensitive and appropriate for children. I remember hearing about the attacks as a young child and later seeing the news footage, but reading the events as a New Yorker might have experienced them made them real in a more human and detailed way.

[Lou Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very, very good.


This book is about a boy named Lucas and his dad, who is a firefighter involved in the situation at the Twin Towers.


This book was good because I love the writing and the author, Lauren Tarshis.