Children's Book Review: Towers Falling By Jewell Parker Rhodes

TOWERS FALLING

By: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Published: July 12, 2016

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Fiction/Junior Fiction

Several years ago, I read Jewell Parker Rhodes book on Hurricane Katrina. It too was written for middle-grade readers as a way to understand what happened during the disaster in New Orleans. NINTH WARD focused on a young girl who lived in Louisana and was tragically affected by Katrina. I thought it was very well done and it left an impact on me.

Parker Rhodes is back with another book perfect for middle-grade readers to try to understand the impact that 9/11 had on adults when the children growing up now, 15 years later (at the time this was written) were not even born yet. None of our children remember the actual event, but it is something we have talked about and watched news features about each year since it happened. As we are coming up on the 16th anniversary of the day America was attacked, this book might be a good way to approach a conversation with your child about what happened and how to understand it.

In this fictional account, Deja doesn't understand why her father is constantly in bed, with a headache, or angry. He no longer works which means her mom has to work even more hours. Deja is often responsible for caring for her younger siblings and they now live in a homeless shelter which is embarrassing and awful. It's the first day of 5th Grade and she's in a new school. Deja puts on her tough outer exterior and decides she isn't going to be nice to anybody in order to protect herself. Everyone else has a lunch box or money at lunch time, but instead, Deja decides to roam the halls. She has no friends...until a couple of kids in her class extend an olive branch. At first, Deja refuses to accept their offer of friendship, but then eventually Sabeen and Ben become her family as well as her teacher, Miss Garcia. All of the teachers are working together to teach about "our history, that's it's alive, and where we are from". Part of this has to do with the attack on 9/11 and Deja doesn't understand why it's important to learn about that one day and why her dad is so upset that her school is talking about it.

Deja tells the story and her voice is realistic and full of emotion. I can totally imagine her feelings of frustration with the school, her new friends, her father, and the other families at the shelter. I understand her unwillingness to trust new people and relationships and her misunderstandings of what is going on with her dad. If nothing else, Deja's story is a reminder for us to be open and honest with our kids, encouraging conversations about what is happening in the news, in our schools, in our communities, and the world around us. Children aren't dumb. They hear things at school, on the TV or radio, or from their friends. The best way to ease their fears is to be honest and open about what is happening. Once that happened for Deja, life became much easier for her and her family.

Jewell Parker Rhodes knows how to get into a child's mind and access their fears and frustrations. Children will be able to identify and empathize with Deja and her friends. Talking about disasters can be difficult, but with a story like TOWERS FALLING or NINTH WARD, you can remind children that there is still good in the world and we can always have hope.

As a side note:

I won this book through Book Club Cookbook. This site features books that would make good book club choices (for children or adults) and features recipes to go along with them to be served along with the discussion. The featured recipe for this book is Jewell Parker Rhodes Pistachio Baklava which is served when Deja visits Sabeen's home. See the recipe, HERE.

Jewell Parker Rhodes - source

Jewell Parker Rhodes has always loved reading and writing stories. Born and raised in Manchester, a largely African-American neighborhood on the North Side of Pittsburgh, she was a voracious reader as a child. She began college as a dance major, but when she discovered there were novels by African Americans, for African Americans, she knew she wanted to be an author. She wrote six novels for adults, two writing guides, and a memoir, but writing for children remained her dream.

Now Jewell has published four children’s books: Ninth Ward, Sugar, Bayou Magic, and Towers Falling. Her fifth, Ghost Boys, will be released in spring of 2018. She's also published six adult novels, two writing guides, and a memoir. When she’s not writing, she’s visiting schools to talk about her books with the kids who read them, or teaching writing at Arizona State University, where she is the Piper Endowed Chair and Founding Artistic Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.

Jewell has received numerous honors including: the American Book Award, the National Endowment of the Arts Award in Fiction, the Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Literary Excellence, the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for Outstanding Writing, and two Arizona Book Awards. Ninth Ward was named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, a Notable Book for a Global Society, and a Today Show Al’s Book Club for Kids Selection. Her work has been published in China, Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey and the United Kingdom, and reproduced in audio for NPR’s “Selected Shorts. For more, visit her website, HERE.

I will be linking up this review on Booking Mama's regular Saturday feature, Kid Konnection. This is a place for bloggers to share posts related to children's and YA books. You will find spotlights, reviews, and sometimes even giveaways by clicking HERE, every Saturday.

To purchase a copy of TOWERS FALLING or NINTH WARD, click the photo below:

Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase any of these books through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Review: Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orlean's Ninth Ward. She doesn’t have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. Abandoned by her peers because of her ability to see spirits, Lanesha longs for connection despite the strong love of her adopted grandmother, Mama Ya-Ya. As hurricane Katrina approaches and her neighbours flee, Lanesha must stay and brace for a storm of epic proportions. As the levees break, Lanesha must find a way to survive the floods on her own...

Jewell Parker Rhodes, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction, including Voodoo Dreams, Magic City, Douglass' Women, Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors, and The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Nonfiction, is the Virginia G. Piper Chair in Creative Writing and artistic director of the Virginia G. Piper Center in Creative Writing at Arizona State University. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

NINTH WARD, published in August of 2010,  was selected by School Library Journal as one of the Best Books of 2010.

I won NINTH WARD from http://www.kidsbookclubbook.com/.  This website features new books and has recipes from the story to go along with it.  These recipes could be used at a book club discussion, for example.  The featured recipes with NINTH WARD are Lanesha's Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.  These were the cupcakes Mama Ya-Ya served Lanesha at her birthday. Also featured is Lanesha's Lemonade.  By going to http://www.kidsbookclubbook.com/ you can search for these recipes.

The story of Lanesha and Mama Ya-Ya grabbed me right away.  Of course, we all know what happens when Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, but the author still gives me new glimpses of what it must have been like for families that stayed behind to fight the storm.  Her descriptions of the days after the hurricane broke my heart as Lanesha suffered through the toughest parts.

I think this is a great Young Adult novel and is an excellent teaching tool of how to be strong when adversity strikes, how other cultures live and about what is really important in the end.  Ghosts and seeing into the future were also a part of the story, and while I am not a believer in that, their part of the story was an interesting piece of Lanesha's life.

I plan to donate my copy to our Middle School/High School and hope that the students/teachers add it to their reading list.

If you would like to learn more about the author, visit http://www.jewellparkerrhodes.com/.

I gave NINTH WARD 4 out of 5 stars and really thought it was an important story to be told.  Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book!

To purchase a copy of NINTH WARD, click the image below:





If you choose to purchase this book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com.

Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Berlin 1942


When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

This was our book club read for the month and I have also been wanting to read this story for awhile.  I am still a little speechless after finishing this book. I am just not sure how to word my thoughts. I was literally laying in bed after finishing the book and realized that I was holding my breath.  You will definately need a few moments to take in the story once you have finished it. 

The stories of 2 boys during the Holocaust was brilliantly written. To describe the horrific images through a nieve child's eyes made it seem even more real than it already was. I don't want to spoil any part of the book for the future reader, but I will say, this is a must read, a quick read, a powerful story, and one that needs to be shared. I will share it with my children.....when I think they are ready for it.  I also plan to try and watch the movie version this weekend and I will let you know what I thought of that as well.  I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars!