9.11.01 Terrorists attack on the U.S. by Patrick Lalley.
Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers. Austin, Texas, 2002. 44 pages.
Reviewed by Jasmine Powell.
The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, is a topic that is near and dear to me because I was just 5 years old when this tragedy happened. On this infamous day in history, I was on my way to school and heard about these happenings on the local radio channel. When I arrived at school, we were taken into our classroom where we watched coverage of the tragedy on the TV throughout most of the day. I did not fully understand what was happening at the time because my kindergarten teacher did not explain it to us. I did not fully understand what happened that day until I was in the 5th grade when we talked about it in history class. After much discussion and many question and answer sessions, things started to finally make more sense. We talked about what this set of events did to America and what we did as a country after the fact to pick up the pieces. This book would have been perfect for me to read when I was younger so I would have understood what happened on that horrible day.
Patrick Lalley is a published author of children’s books. Lalley has been in the writing and editing field for 30 years. Currently, Lalley is listed as a talk show host and journalist in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area.
The thesis of 9/11/01: Terrorists attack the U.S. is what happened on that infamous day and why it happened. This book sets out details of the terrorist attack by providing eyewitness accounts, relations with the Islam, identifying countries who were impacted, and the after effects of the attacks. This book was written shortly after September 11, 2001, and cannot be deemed all-inclusive of details. Patrick Lalley presented this book as a basic overview of what happened that day in American history and also rounds it out by providing speculation on why it happened.
This book is rated as a pretty good nonfiction resource for middle grade students who want to find out more about the events of September 11, 2001. It is a well-researched and easy-to-understand compilation that explains the details of the terrorist attack, gives eyewitness accounts, and provides historic context. However, because this book was written in 2002, the information is not necessarily complete. This timeline deficiency would need to be explained to students if they are going to use this information for a research project. This book would be adequate if it was used along with more current and updated information.
This book rounds itself out by providing several avenues of how, why and who concerning terrorism. There is an overview of what it means to have terrorism happen on U.S. soil. History of the World Trade Center is offered to help understand the construction and failure in that category. A hint of why Islam and the United States do not meld is given. The book provides information from behind the terrorist attacks. There are stories from ground zero provided by an office worker and a fire fighter. Futurist thoughts are also included concerning the impact of terrorism and war for not only the United States, but other countries as well.
The book describes the day as normal with many details of weather and how people are bustling into their morning routines. As we as Americans look back, it seems that day took a long time to expire. When in all honesty, it only took a little over 90 minutes for the whole event to transpire. There are also many heart-wrenching photos included in the book that pull you into the happenings of that infamous day in our history.
There is detailed information and accounts of what happened on the hi-jacked airplanes, including specific flight information, how many hijackers on each plane, their weapon of choice, and the demise of those on board and on U.S. soil. This also includes the airplane that hit the Pentagon and the airplane that crashed in Pennsylvania. All four airplanes are covered in this book in great detail as to what transpired on board and their ultimate endings. All four airplanes were hijacked and were integral parts of the horrific terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
President George W. Bush is quoted several times in the book. Parts of his addresses to the American people are quoted including the promise that the “United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.” (page 10) He also recognizes that this will not be a short search, but the United States will prevail.
Along with President Bush’s involvement, the book also reflects on the military and their presence throughout these events and long after the attacks were over. The selfless acts of the firefighters and emergency personnel are portrayed with heart-wrenching results.
The history of the World Trade Center is enlightening. Thoughts of the architect are shared along with his goal for the towers. The New York City skyline is famous worldwide. It appears on postcards, in movies, and on television. The name World Trade Center suggests international and that is exactly what is was. The headquarters for international business and there were people from over 80 countries who worked there (pages 44-45).
Muslims follow a religion called Islam. There is an explanation that the acts of terrorism were justified by the religious beliefs of the Muslims. Of course, some will strongly disagree with that, but those involved in the attacks were comfortable with this reasoning. Islamic extremists belonged to a group called al-Qaeda which was being directed by Osama bin Laden. The book gives an explanation of what al-Qaeda believed and how it was perceived in the Muslim world. Reasons as to why bin Laden was the leader and how he carried out terrorist attacks is covered.
Previous attacks on the United States may be forgotten, but are significant in the scheme of attacks on U.S. soil. The prior attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, U.S. embassy attacks in 1998, and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, are all believed to be connected to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It is also believed that the previous attacks are connected to bin Laden and the explanation can tie the events together for the reader. (page 27)
It was believed that bin Laden was a huge part of the terrorist attacks. This gives reason as to why there is a biographical section explaining his upbringing and some of the bumps he encountered through his younger years. There is also reference to his hatred for the United States throughout his lifetime. (page 28)
The stories from Ground Zero will take you into the attack and lead you into the fear and torture that folks experienced that awful day. The details that are expressed will have you experiencing the attack even though you were not there.
After the attacks were over, life did not return to normal. It took months to remove rubble and recover bodies. The book takes you to Ground Zero and includes you in digging through the ruins, a crime scene, a major environmental disaster, and a graveyard. (page 35) Health risks, destruction of power stations, fires burning underground, becoming casualties themselves were some of the issues that recovery workers had to deal with. In order for folks to move forward, the rubble had to be removed, bodies had to be found, and a plan for the future had to be devised.
A war of terrorism was a promise. President Bush declared war on terrorism (page 40) with no one to give up until the United States captured and controlled Osama bin Laden. The major target was Afghanistan and those allies of bin Laden. It was promised to be a long hard fight, but the United States would persevere.
Lalley develops his thesis by including the extra information such as the problems that are evident between Islam and the United States. The history and behind the scenes notes are advantageous in the understanding of why the United States was the target in the first place. These extra tidbits of information round out the terrorist attack recount in a full understanding of why and how these things happened on U.S. soil.
Lalley’s purpose in this book is for middle school students to get a simple straight forward account of what happened on September 11, 2001, with brief explanation as to why and who was involved. Lalley does accomplish this purpose with his writings, explanations, and photos portraying events.
There are no evident biases in the book. One could expect a bit of bias towards the Muslims and their beliefs, but there is none evident. Lalley expresses the reasoning behind the feelings of Muslims towards the United States, but does not include affliction from one side to another. The facts and beliefs are set forth without prejudice noted. The reader is left to determine their own cultural perspectives. It is not noted in the reading itself.
Lalley does support his thesis and does it with facts not fiction. He explains the religious beliefs of Muslims, and puts forth the fact that many Muslims do not and did not agree with the actions of al-Qaeda. These are facts, not opinions. The book allows the reader to make their own determination of which side to stand behind. Lalley does not influence a good or bad side, nor a right or wrong side.
I do not believe Lalley suppresses contrary evidence. He does not condemn the Muslims for their actions. He gives both sides including power to the Muslims who are following bin Laden and frustration to those who do not agree with the extremists and do not agree with their actions. He leaves it up to the reader to choose a side.
The thesis is sound and is developed throughout the book. The addition of the history of the Twin Towers, eye-witness accounts, and Islam explanation adds to the integrity of the writing.
Lalley’s thesis is proved. The only red flag that can be perceived is that the information may not be fully complete due to the time of the writing. Since this writing was completed so soon after the attacks, it has been suggested that it may not be all inclusive. It is a great starting point, and with other supporting information, would make a great research piece.
There certainly are many writings available on this same subject, but this book is targeted to the middle school aged students and is portrayed as simple and easy to understand. This book is different and appealing because it does not just portray the events of the terrorist attacks themselves, it also goes the extra mile and offers eyewitness accounts, relations with the Islam, identifying countries who were impacted, and the after effects of the attacks.
This is a book that would be seen on a list for a good read on this subject. It covers the hijacking along with providing extra information for better understanding as to why and how, including the after effects of the attacks which is often left out.
A huge strength for this book is the inclusion of the extra sections, including the map showing the countries who lost citizens in the World Trade Center attacks. This was not only a blow to the United States, but affected over 80 countries around the world. I had not read that statistic before this book.
It is important that the reader not only concentrate on the events of September 11, 2001, but include the impact of terrorism and war to the world. This section of the book gives a simple straight forward synopsis of what the world holds as the United States moves forward to fight the war on terrorism. It outlines what can be expected and that it will be a long process.
As stated previously, a weakness that needs to be noted is the incompleteness of the information because it was written so soon following the attacks on September 11, 2001. To contradict that fact, it could easily be rectified if this writing is used as supplemental material to more updated information.