20 Titles to Honor the 20th Anniversary of Sept. 11

Then

I was sixteen years old, in Physics class when we found out that there had been a terrorist attack in New York City. Like many people old enough, I can remember exactly where I was and who I was with when the news was shared. It became even more real when we heard that a plane crashed outside Somerset, PA, just a two-hour drive from my home. At the time, we didn’t know where the plane was heading or what would happen next. Being in high school, we were aware of what was happening, but only in as much as everyone else knew.

It’s been 20 years and it feels like it happened forever ago and it only happened yesterday. While many people like to remember how the country came together in the aftermath of the horror, there were many others who were frightened for their safety as hatred was spewed at people who looked, worshipped, and maybe lived in a different way.

Now

Kids will hear the news and see the stories, especially this year as it’s such a big anniversary. It’s important as parents to share with kids as much as is appropriate for your family. Honestly, I’ve read a number of these books and it doesn’t get any easier for me. I think that as people who lived through that horrific day, we feel so much about it, but for many kids, this is just another point in history. That’s because they didn’t live through it. For many, the COVID-19 pandemic might be one of those events in their lives – where were you when the world was in quarantine.

The 20 titles to honor the 20th anniversary of Sept. 11 below can help to open up a conversation with your kids. They’ll have plenty of questions especially as news surrounding Afghanistan is hard to ignore right now. Share the good, the bad, and the ugly; kids have a right to understand what’s going on in the world around them. There are picture books, nonfiction, chapter books, middle grade, and a few YA titles to fit almost any reader.

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