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What Were the Twin Towers?
What Were the Twin Towers?
108 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2016
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736 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 150 reviews
August 25, 2021
No day shall erase you from the memory of time~Virgil
When I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2015, the wall with the above quote was a highlight. What the museum is doing to remember that day. This book not only reminds us of the events of that day, but also gives a history of the Twin Towers going all the way back to the Dutch Trading Post called New Amsterdam. This is written for young readers, but will also appeal to adults -- especially those who were very young or not yet born when 9/11 occurred. Includes 16 pages of photos.
When I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2015, the wall with the above quote was a highlight. What the museum is doing to remember that day. This book not only reminds us of the events of that day, but also gives a history of the Twin Towers going all the way back to the Dutch Trading Post called New Amsterdam. This is written for young readers, but will also appeal to adults -- especially those who were very young or not yet born when 9/11 occurred. Includes 16 pages of photos.
September 30, 2017
I would have given it at least a 3 star rating were it not for the flat out lies on Page 61. "Peaceful and loving"? Horse Hockey!!
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September 7, 2021No day shall erase you from the memory of time~Virgil
When I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2015, the wall with the above quote was a highlight. What the museum is doing to remember that day. This book not only reminds us of the events of that day, but also gives a history of the Twin Towers going all the way back to the Dutch Trading Post called New Amsterdam. This is written for young readers, but will also appeal to adults -- especially those who were very young or not yet born when 9/11 occurred. Includes 16 pages of photos.
* Reviewed by Darla from Red Bridge *
When I visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2015, the wall with the above quote was a highlight. What the museum is doing to remember that day. This book not only reminds us of the events of that day, but also gives a history of the Twin Towers going all the way back to the Dutch Trading Post called New Amsterdam. This is written for young readers, but will also appeal to adults -- especially those who were very young or not yet born when 9/11 occurred. Includes 16 pages of photos.
* Reviewed by Darla from Red Bridge *
January 17, 2021
A Very Well Done and Very well Detailed insight into One of The Darkest Days in USA if not World History!
September 29, 2016
I read What Were The Twin Towers by Jim O'Conner. They were built on August 26, 1966. In 1993 they were attacked by a bombers in a white van in the parking garage. That is when they knew they needed better security. On September 11, 2001 they were attacked again, but far worse.Everybody was in sorrow. This time two planes crashed into the towers. At first people had thought it was an accident but when the second hit they knew it was no accident. There were two more planes one headed for the pentagon which hit the other we believe was going hit the White House.
I liked this book a lot and I would read it again but I need to focus on other books. I love history so I knew allot of this but allot of people know about this. I loved how people would use them as a way to be dangerous like dare devils.
I would recommend this book to people who love history. or that would want to learn more about this book.
I liked this book a lot and I would read it again but I need to focus on other books. I love history so I knew allot of this but allot of people know about this. I loved how people would use them as a way to be dangerous like dare devils.
I would recommend this book to people who love history. or that would want to learn more about this book.
January 16, 2017
I read this with a small group of students who were not even born when the attacks of 9/11 happened. This book spiked an interest in them that I have not seen in a group of reluctant readers. From the facts about the construction of the buildings to the strange facts (like the daredevils) to the facts of the day of the attacks, this text sparked some really great discussion. It also brought up some intense emotions in me as I relived that day in my mind.
November 24, 2016
This was a great book on the history of the twin towers from the idea to build them to their terrible collapse. Lots of technical things in the book that describe how all the important decisions were made about the start and memory of the building. May be a little tough for a third grader to understand could be used for 4th or 5 th graders.
January 2, 2018
I thought the book would mainly focus on 9/11 but the author gave a nice history of the Twin Towers that I quite enjoyed.
*Tycoon David Rockefeller wanted Lower Manhattan to turn into a business hub and lively neighborhood. He had a plan to create some massive buildings and got NYC Port Authority behind him.
*Getting the Port Authority involved was a sneaky move because they could use "eminent domain" to push out other businesses and take the land. (Reading between the lines of a kid's book, I bet there was quite a bit of justified drama involved. I'm not a fan of eminent domain.)
*They held a contest to design the towers. There had to be at least 10 million square feet of space to rent and over 100 floors in each tower. A Japanese-American, Minoru Yamasaki, won.
*The guy in charge was Guy F. Tozzoli. He said:
Yama, President Kennedy is going to put a man on the moon. You're going to figure out a way to build me the tallest buildings in the world."
*Construction began on March 21, 1966.
*First thing built were the "slurry walls" which basically created a bathtub of sorts around the towers so that the Hudson River couldn't flow in. This was pretty impressive to me. The trenches were 65-feet deep and took 14 months to complete.
*Official opening day is in 1973. Tenants had been slowly moving in since 1970 and were already up and running.
*In 1977, George Willig climbed the outside of the towers and was arrested when he got to the top. The mayor of NYC fined him $1.10. One penny for each floor of the Tower.
*So much mail came through that the Towers had their own zipcode: 10048.
The author concluded with a thoughtful, child-friendly look at 9/11 and described the memorial found there now. I haven't had a chance to visit the completed memorial and museum but reading this book made me want to head back to NYC and show my respect to those who lost their lives.
*Tycoon David Rockefeller wanted Lower Manhattan to turn into a business hub and lively neighborhood. He had a plan to create some massive buildings and got NYC Port Authority behind him.
*Getting the Port Authority involved was a sneaky move because they could use "eminent domain" to push out other businesses and take the land. (Reading between the lines of a kid's book, I bet there was quite a bit of justified drama involved. I'm not a fan of eminent domain.)
*They held a contest to design the towers. There had to be at least 10 million square feet of space to rent and over 100 floors in each tower. A Japanese-American, Minoru Yamasaki, won.
*The guy in charge was Guy F. Tozzoli. He said:
Yama, President Kennedy is going to put a man on the moon. You're going to figure out a way to build me the tallest buildings in the world."
*Construction began on March 21, 1966.
*First thing built were the "slurry walls" which basically created a bathtub of sorts around the towers so that the Hudson River couldn't flow in. This was pretty impressive to me. The trenches were 65-feet deep and took 14 months to complete.
*Official opening day is in 1973. Tenants had been slowly moving in since 1970 and were already up and running.
*In 1977, George Willig climbed the outside of the towers and was arrested when he got to the top. The mayor of NYC fined him $1.10. One penny for each floor of the Tower.
*So much mail came through that the Towers had their own zipcode: 10048.
The author concluded with a thoughtful, child-friendly look at 9/11 and described the memorial found there now. I haven't had a chance to visit the completed memorial and museum but reading this book made me want to head back to NYC and show my respect to those who lost their lives.
September 23, 2017
The nonfiction children’s book, What Were the Twin Towers?, does not mainly focus on 9/11 attacks. The book introduces general information of the Twin Towers about the background history of the construction of the building. It includes the original purpose of the building establishment, designing and construction processes with the discipline‐specific words, the 9/11 attacks, and the current memorial buildings for the victims.
The structure of the contents are organized chronologically, and contents are clustered as chapters. The expository texts conveys information and explains the facts and evidences on events and the objects, in this case the Twin Towers. At the end of the page, timeline of the Twin Towers and the worlds are demonstrated, and bibliography of the contents are encompassed. I appreciate that the author tries to make a balanced perspectives to the facts and information on the Twin Towers. The comments of Muslims and miscommunications of officers or governments about the attacks must be sensitive issues in America. When it comes to the illustrations of the book, it also contains multiple characters with different ethnic orients. The author’s efforts to avoid having a bias perspectives convinced me to read other books of the author.
The structure of the contents are organized chronologically, and contents are clustered as chapters. The expository texts conveys information and explains the facts and evidences on events and the objects, in this case the Twin Towers. At the end of the page, timeline of the Twin Towers and the worlds are demonstrated, and bibliography of the contents are encompassed. I appreciate that the author tries to make a balanced perspectives to the facts and information on the Twin Towers. The comments of Muslims and miscommunications of officers or governments about the attacks must be sensitive issues in America. When it comes to the illustrations of the book, it also contains multiple characters with different ethnic orients. The author’s efforts to avoid having a bias perspectives convinced me to read other books of the author.
October 20, 2017
This story is about the Twin Towers and how they got destroyed on September 11, 2001. The book describes the history and the events of the attack. It goes on to talk about how Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and how they carried out their vicious attack on 9/11. Osama bin Laden had told a group of terrorist attackers to target the twin towers with a plane from American Airlines. The 2 terrorist attackers went to the airport and hijacked a plane with approximately 92 passengers. They were flying for about 45 minutes before the hijackers flew right into the twin towers sadly killing everybody who was on board. I would recommend this book to 5th graders and up because it is written in simple language and answered questions I had while reading. I would rate this book a 5 star because it has pages with just pictures to help understand the book more and it had so much good information about the twin towers and 9/11.
March 23, 2018
"No day shall erase you from the memory of time." - Virgil
Such a fitting quote, etched beautifully into the wall within the private "Reflection Room" of the Memorial Museum in New York City, for the family and friends of those who lost their lives amidst the rubble of 9/11 to reflect upon.
The events surrounding September 11, 2001 are skillfully recorded in this children's book by Jim O'Connor; beginning with the history of the area itself, the grand construction design of the Twin Towers, and eventually a description of their historic destruction by radical terrorists. The author records the most important details in a manner through which any reader could appreciate and any American could commemorate.
Such a fitting quote, etched beautifully into the wall within the private "Reflection Room" of the Memorial Museum in New York City, for the family and friends of those who lost their lives amidst the rubble of 9/11 to reflect upon.
The events surrounding September 11, 2001 are skillfully recorded in this children's book by Jim O'Connor; beginning with the history of the area itself, the grand construction design of the Twin Towers, and eventually a description of their historic destruction by radical terrorists. The author records the most important details in a manner through which any reader could appreciate and any American could commemorate.
November 27, 2016
Good information about the building of the towers and their destruction. The author's description of the Islam religion being peaceful was a mistake that made me wonder how much else in the story was false. He also said there were unheeded warning signs of the attack by government agencies and even the president. That was disturbing.
September 22, 2017
Read this book to my third and fourth graders and they learned a lot. It made them think and come up with questions about the Twin Towers. It gives a great history of the towers being built and tells the story of the memorial that is in their place today. Very good read!
February 20, 2018
It was sad but interesting.
dnf
September 22, 2023So I'm going to need you to take me seriously for one second.
Obviously this book's existence is objectively hilarious. It's also objectively hilarious that I have genuine strong opinions about it. Also, it's hilarious that I feel the need to put these opinions in a Goodreads review. However, I care not for social norms, and I will do it. I am going to talk about this book the way I did to a friend yesterday, which is, so hard that they thought I was talking about an adult nonfiction title so when I showed them the cover they burst out laughing.
OK. So I get the point of this book-- kids need to know about the Twin Towers. I mean, do they? (Strong start to this review. Dislike unsubscribe turn off notifications etc.) Society will more than tell them, and it's hardly the most important event of the past 20 years. But, okay, yes, they should be aware of them, and preferably on terms other than pop culture.
The problem is, this book IS pop culture. It's from a giant corporation which is beholden to parents' interests. There are only so many blandly parent-friendly ways you can talk about the Twin Towers.
This means about half of this book is about the architectural design of the Twin Towers.
Listen-- I felt like I was being mean to autistic children while I was reading this book. I felt like an asshole. I'm sitting here, flipping past Architectural Fact #1000, thinking, who tf cares? But I'm sure somewhere there is a kid zonked out of their gourd on yet another fact about the way the elevators worked in the twin towers. So you decide whether 40 pages of building facts were justified.
With that said, I did like that they included what seemed like a pretty comprehensive layout of what happened, including previous threats and so on, and I was just getting into it when they said well wasn't that tragic, look at how all the US came together, maybe Bush should've listened a little harder to the reports of Al Qaeda members going to flight schools to learn to fly passenger planes to attack the US, and then ended the book.
...??
If you're anything like me you're probably thinking something like this right now:
Gang, they did not talk about the Iraq War. They did not talk about the rise in islamophobia in the US. They did not talk about the "war on terror." And, yeah, book for kids-- but fuck if I'm going to give a kid a book about 9/11 that doesn't explain materially WHY the legacy of the event was impactful. And, sorry to white Christian Americans, but it really does not actively affect them in the year 2023. It DOES affect people who are unable to wear a hijab outside, who grew up being taunted for their religion, who are still at increased risk of physical attacks, etc. For fuck's sake we invaded a country! FOR NO REASON! LOL!
You can literally see people pissed in the reviews here because the authors referred to Islam as a "peaceful religion"-- which, yes, is stupid of them because no religion is really inherently anything, religions are how they are practiced, and the Quran does contain violence in its text the same way the Torah and New Testament do. So while people are 100% being islamophobic and stupid in the reviews, they've also been given that opening by poor and un-nuanced wording in the book, which would have been better off e.g. saying Islam is not ANY MORE violent IN ITS SOURCE TEXTS than Christianity/Judaism, and that religions are followed by human beings, who can be many things, including murderers. There are Jews who shoot up mosques and Christians who shoot up abortion clinics, etc.
Anyway this is way too long of a review for a children's book I'm having to mark as DNF because I skimmed all of the information about the architectural plans for the Twin Towers. My point is, I would not give this book to kids. I would honestly just hand Little Timmy Maus and then In the Shadow of No Towers and let him fucking deal with it, at that point. Salut.
Obviously this book's existence is objectively hilarious. It's also objectively hilarious that I have genuine strong opinions about it. Also, it's hilarious that I feel the need to put these opinions in a Goodreads review. However, I care not for social norms, and I will do it. I am going to talk about this book the way I did to a friend yesterday, which is, so hard that they thought I was talking about an adult nonfiction title so when I showed them the cover they burst out laughing.
OK. So I get the point of this book-- kids need to know about the Twin Towers. I mean, do they? (Strong start to this review. Dislike unsubscribe turn off notifications etc.) Society will more than tell them, and it's hardly the most important event of the past 20 years. But, okay, yes, they should be aware of them, and preferably on terms other than pop culture.
The problem is, this book IS pop culture. It's from a giant corporation which is beholden to parents' interests. There are only so many blandly parent-friendly ways you can talk about the Twin Towers.
This means about half of this book is about the architectural design of the Twin Towers.
Listen-- I felt like I was being mean to autistic children while I was reading this book. I felt like an asshole. I'm sitting here, flipping past Architectural Fact #1000, thinking, who tf cares? But I'm sure somewhere there is a kid zonked out of their gourd on yet another fact about the way the elevators worked in the twin towers. So you decide whether 40 pages of building facts were justified.
With that said, I did like that they included what seemed like a pretty comprehensive layout of what happened, including previous threats and so on, and I was just getting into it when they said well wasn't that tragic, look at how all the US came together, maybe Bush should've listened a little harder to the reports of Al Qaeda members going to flight schools to learn to fly passenger planes to attack the US, and then ended the book.
...??
If you're anything like me you're probably thinking something like this right now:
Gang, they did not talk about the Iraq War. They did not talk about the rise in islamophobia in the US. They did not talk about the "war on terror." And, yeah, book for kids-- but fuck if I'm going to give a kid a book about 9/11 that doesn't explain materially WHY the legacy of the event was impactful. And, sorry to white Christian Americans, but it really does not actively affect them in the year 2023. It DOES affect people who are unable to wear a hijab outside, who grew up being taunted for their religion, who are still at increased risk of physical attacks, etc. For fuck's sake we invaded a country! FOR NO REASON! LOL!
You can literally see people pissed in the reviews here because the authors referred to Islam as a "peaceful religion"-- which, yes, is stupid of them because no religion is really inherently anything, religions are how they are practiced, and the Quran does contain violence in its text the same way the Torah and New Testament do. So while people are 100% being islamophobic and stupid in the reviews, they've also been given that opening by poor and un-nuanced wording in the book, which would have been better off e.g. saying Islam is not ANY MORE violent IN ITS SOURCE TEXTS than Christianity/Judaism, and that religions are followed by human beings, who can be many things, including murderers. There are Jews who shoot up mosques and Christians who shoot up abortion clinics, etc.
Anyway this is way too long of a review for a children's book I'm having to mark as DNF because I skimmed all of the information about the architectural plans for the Twin Towers. My point is, I would not give this book to kids. I would honestly just hand Little Timmy Maus and then In the Shadow of No Towers and let him fucking deal with it, at that point. Salut.
April 9, 2020
The Twin Towers were so much more than * just * 9/11, and this book makes a nice attempt to paint a full picture for those who weren´t yet with us then.
On chapter 9, so often remarked on by other reviewers, I applaud the author.
It is made clear that the terrorists were Al Qaeda, and although people belonging to this group claim to be Muslim, their convictions have little to do with the actual religion.
Religion and politics are a difficult to explain to kids, (even lots of grown-ups have their troubles understanding), it is, in my opinion, not possible to explain the impact of 9/11 on the world without at least touching on the subject.
On chapter 9, so often remarked on by other reviewers, I applaud the author.
It is made clear that the terrorists were Al Qaeda, and although people belonging to this group claim to be Muslim, their convictions have little to do with the actual religion.
Religion and politics are a difficult to explain to kids, (even lots of grown-ups have their troubles understanding), it is, in my opinion, not possible to explain the impact of 9/11 on the world without at least touching on the subject.
September 26, 2022
Even as an adult, I got a lot out of this little book. It gives a lot of information about how the towers were built, history while they were standing, and then the attacks of 9/11. It then talks about the memorial, how it was built and what you can see if you visit. It talks briefly about Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and gives a lot of very specific data.
November 18, 2025
At a recent visit to New York City, we toured Liberty Island & saw the Statue of Liberty. Their book store had this book in it. Since I love these books & remember 9/11/2001 so well, I had to purchase it. A concise, well written tribute to that infamous day. A reminder of how tragedy can unite a country. Hope we never see this kind of terrorism again.
January 20, 2022
I've been reading this book at my house and I finished it last night and the story was amazing! You get to see all of the pictures of the towers before they were destroyed and you find out how it happened.
July 29, 2019
This book was good. It !makes it out like these terrorist stacked because they hated the greed of Americans. I feel like it glossed over a lot for young reader s
March 27, 2024
I really enjoyed the background in the buildings. 9/11 is such a high event in my life but was really the first time I recall learning about the towers. Great, quick read.
November 21, 2021
interesting
December 15, 2021
I didn’t think I would tear up reading this book, but it impacted me. I learned a lot that I didn’t know about 9/11. Seeing the amount of people who innocently lost their lives and the rescue teams who didn’t hesitant to try and help, wow. Even if it is a younger audience targeted book, I really did enjoy reading it.
January 25, 2024
This was a really good book! It was full of facts and info. all about that time. It is also pretty easy to understand, but it is very interesting! Def, a five star.
November 15, 2016
It was a very good book If you like the twin towers. I like how they in memory of the twin towers put up a museum with pieces of metal and bent steel.this book really let me in on how big of a deal the twin towers were. I always knew about the a little but not this much. I've always been really interested in things like this. So maybe I will look more into it. I really liked this book and I think that if your interested in reading you should definitely read it.
September 13, 2017
Not as interesting as the other "who was" books, which was kind of expected. Gave a good overall view of how the Towers came to be, their construction, and destruction.
May 5, 2022
My book is about the twin towers
April 5, 2019
What Were the Twin Towers? tells readers about the history of the famous Twin Towers located in NYC from their beginning to their devastating end. The author gives plenty of details about the Twin Towers. David Rockefeller, the president of one of the largest banks in the world, wanted to attract business to lower Manhattan and sought the help of the Port Authority to help him with his idea. He wanted to create the World Trade Center.
After getting financing and plans approved, construction was started on New York City's two famous giants. The landmarks, celebrities in themselves, attracted not only tenants and tourists, but daredevils, as well. The attention the buildings received was not always welcome. Because the buildings represented some of the top financial companies in the world, they were also targets for attacks. In 1993, a group of terrorists tried to blow up one of the buildings. Their quest, sadly, took lives and damaged the building, and also revealed many problems with safety. Measures were taken to increase security, but nothing could have prepared NYC for the attacks that came in 2001. Hijackers used airplanes to attack the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Thousands of lives were lost and the buildings faced their final demise.
I would recommend this book for 3rd-6th grade. It is a great reference to use in the classroom to discuss the events of September 11th. The book is full of information that could be used to make a timeline, and, in fact, there are two timelines included at the end of the book. This book could also be used to discuss resilience, as so many people and communities came together to help one another after the horrific attacks.
After getting financing and plans approved, construction was started on New York City's two famous giants. The landmarks, celebrities in themselves, attracted not only tenants and tourists, but daredevils, as well. The attention the buildings received was not always welcome. Because the buildings represented some of the top financial companies in the world, they were also targets for attacks. In 1993, a group of terrorists tried to blow up one of the buildings. Their quest, sadly, took lives and damaged the building, and also revealed many problems with safety. Measures were taken to increase security, but nothing could have prepared NYC for the attacks that came in 2001. Hijackers used airplanes to attack the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Thousands of lives were lost and the buildings faced their final demise.
I would recommend this book for 3rd-6th grade. It is a great reference to use in the classroom to discuss the events of September 11th. The book is full of information that could be used to make a timeline, and, in fact, there are two timelines included at the end of the book. This book could also be used to discuss resilience, as so many people and communities came together to help one another after the horrific attacks.
December 17, 2024
I discovered this book in a 6th grade classroom I was subbing for and started reading it. The book focused on the Twin Towers beyond 9/11: from their creation and construction to 9/11 and its aftermath.
The book is written for young adults and isn't written in an overly emotional way to evoke sadness, yet I still cried. Those poor souls in the planes that crashed...especially the ones that knew what was going to happen to them since they had gotten the news about the Twin Towers. The passengers on that plane prevented more tragedy by wresting control from a hijacker, who crash-landed the plane on a field in Philadelphia, but still lost their loves.
I felt like the book had one or two inconsistencies. For instance, the author said that no one was found by the firemen scouring Ground Zero after the attack, yet thousands of bones were found. So no whole body or survivors were found, but bones were.
I also wish the book had talked more about what went on in the planes between the passengers and the hijackers and the security personnel in the airport who had second thoughts about letting the terrorists pass through.
The book is written for young adults and isn't written in an overly emotional way to evoke sadness, yet I still cried. Those poor souls in the planes that crashed...especially the ones that knew what was going to happen to them since they had gotten the news about the Twin Towers. The passengers on that plane prevented more tragedy by wresting control from a hijacker, who crash-landed the plane on a field in Philadelphia, but still lost their loves.
I felt like the book had one or two inconsistencies. For instance, the author said that no one was found by the firemen scouring Ground Zero after the attack, yet thousands of bones were found. So no whole body or survivors were found, but bones were.
I also wish the book had talked more about what went on in the planes between the passengers and the hijackers and the security personnel in the airport who had second thoughts about letting the terrorists pass through.
September 25, 2019
What were the twin towers was a great book! The format of the story was what made me very fond of this book because its very organized, and I am a very organized person and I enjoy reading books that have a very organized order. It started off by explaining what the twin towers were and then, it went into how the building process. Next, into the city's thoughts of the trade center. Then, it covered how and why the attacks of 9/11 went down. After, in explained the impact the attacks of 9/11 had on new York city from then until now. And at the very end it talked about all the new museums, and landmarks. As you can see this was a very chronological book. And it really really got me interested in wanting to read and know more about the tragic story of September 11th, 2001. Overall it was a great book I would most certainly suggest and persuade anyone to read.
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