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kkdemarco's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. Loved this book! So emotional and so real. Loved the reactions to the events of 9/11 from the different characters' eyes (the teenagers, but also the adults).
ttayfel1997's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book as a goodreads giveaway and ended up finishing the whole thing in a day. From the moment I got the book in the mail I was excited to read it. I was honestly hooked from the very first line. The book kept me wondering until the last few pages. I had so many questions as I read and this ultimately led me to not being able to put the book down. It was a beautifully written story and I'm honestly sad it's over.
readwithpassion's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book several weeks ago, and I still can't thinking about it. As a few other bloggers have said, this is a book about 9/11---but it isn't a book about 9/11. It is more a book about friendship, about growing up, and about being human. There are so many topics in this book that are worthy of discussion, and I think teachers will really appreciate its beauty. The writing is quiet yet powerful, and the book has a sort of shattering impact on readers. I loved the connections that Kyle makes in this book, and I particularly enjoyed the ways each of the individuals he interacts with tells the reader more about him. He grows from everyone in this book, and I'd love to discuss this growth with students.
Teacher's Tools for Navigation: Teachers might ask students to research the many themes of this book to provide background information. They might look at disability/caregivers, PTSD, suicide, and 9/11---just to name a few. They could also look at the different stages of trauma to learn more about how each of the characters reacts differently to the tragic events that occurred on 9/11.
Full review (available August 11): http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=10699
Teacher's Tools for Navigation: Teachers might ask students to research the many themes of this book to provide background information. They might look at disability/caregivers, PTSD, suicide, and 9/11---just to name a few. They could also look at the different stages of trauma to learn more about how each of the characters reacts differently to the tragic events that occurred on 9/11.
Full review (available August 11): http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=10699
beths0103's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that takes place during 9/11 but manages to not be ABOUT 9/11. It's a reminder to us all that despite great tragedy, life goes on and the world keeps turning. It's a book that took me back to that fateful day in September of 2001 and what I was feeling, but it reminds me that the students I now teach weren't even born yet when it happened.
It's so easy to dismiss narrative and expressive writing in favor of teaching students dry, expository essay writing in school. But students aren't going to feel loss and empathy by reading about 9/11 in a textbook. They feel it by reading stories. All the more reason that books like this, while fiction, bring out an understanding that expository writing just can't accomplish. I have a feeling that when this book finally hits bookstores, it's going to be a popular staple in my classroom library.
It's so easy to dismiss narrative and expressive writing in favor of teaching students dry, expository essay writing in school. But students aren't going to feel loss and empathy by reading about 9/11 in a textbook. They feel it by reading stories. All the more reason that books like this, while fiction, bring out an understanding that expository writing just can't accomplish. I have a feeling that when this book finally hits bookstores, it's going to be a popular staple in my classroom library.
jcrawford728's review against another edition
5.0
I know it has been awhile since I finished this book. However, that does not mean it has not been on my mind in the two months since I've read it. It is that powerful.
I was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened. It is a day burned in my mind for the rest of my life. As a high school teacher, it blows my mind that I am teaching teens who were way too young to remember and soon I will be teaching teens not even alive when it happens. The Memory of Things is a strong story to inform teens of this important national tragedy without being a dry, detached recollection. The emotions of that day - the fear, the uncertainty, the horror - are captured beautifully through Kyle and the girl's duel narration. Gae's writing brought me back to those moments and to NYC and I think teens will find themselves there as well. Isn't that the power of storytelling?
Uncle Matt is probably now on my list of favorite supporting characters. Both Kyle's and the girl's interactions with him helped build up him up as well as Uncle Matt himself. He will forever have a special place in my heart.
Finally, the hope and love The Memory of Things leaves us with are probably most important of all. Especially now, I think we all need to be reminded that we are one nation together and how we can come together to support each other rather than let fear and hate tear us down. We seem to have forgotten that recently. I cannot wait to share this book with my students in the fall.
I was a senior in high school when 9/11 happened. It is a day burned in my mind for the rest of my life. As a high school teacher, it blows my mind that I am teaching teens who were way too young to remember and soon I will be teaching teens not even alive when it happens. The Memory of Things is a strong story to inform teens of this important national tragedy without being a dry, detached recollection. The emotions of that day - the fear, the uncertainty, the horror - are captured beautifully through Kyle and the girl's duel narration. Gae's writing brought me back to those moments and to NYC and I think teens will find themselves there as well. Isn't that the power of storytelling?
Uncle Matt is probably now on my list of favorite supporting characters. Both Kyle's and the girl's interactions with him helped build up him up as well as Uncle Matt himself. He will forever have a special place in my heart.
Finally, the hope and love The Memory of Things leaves us with are probably most important of all. Especially now, I think we all need to be reminded that we are one nation together and how we can come together to support each other rather than let fear and hate tear us down. We seem to have forgotten that recently. I cannot wait to share this book with my students in the fall.
erincaitlin97's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. It was heart wrenching, but also beautiful, and so very hopeful all at once. It captured the thoughts and feelings of every American on this tragic day in history and I wish I could unread it just to experience it all over again.
greenvillemelissa's review against another edition
5.0
Book #140 Read in 2016
The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner
This book is set in New York City on 9/11. Kyle crosses the bridge and makes it home when the towers fell. His dad is a first responder and is at Ground Zero. Kyle found this teen girl alone and wandering and brings her home with him. Who is she? Did she lose her parents in the towers? This book realistically portrays the horrors and the heroes of 9/11. A recommended read for high school and adult readers. I borrowed this book from the public library.
The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner
This book is set in New York City on 9/11. Kyle crosses the bridge and makes it home when the towers fell. His dad is a first responder and is at Ground Zero. Kyle found this teen girl alone and wandering and brings her home with him. Who is she? Did she lose her parents in the towers? This book realistically portrays the horrors and the heroes of 9/11. A recommended read for high school and adult readers. I borrowed this book from the public library.
booksandladders's review against another edition
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
DNF @ 53%
Tbh, this was a quick read up until this point, but I stopped and I just don’t really want to go back. I have no interest in it anymore and it is because of way it was written. This one states that there are alternating points of view -- and there are, but it is regular prose for Kyle’s point of view and then purple prose in a lyrical way for the girl. And it was so jarring to go from the regular prose to this weird poem right in the middle with no warning. At first I was like “wtf is this, did they screw up the eARC” but no it was just the way it was written. Just thinking about going back to read that is blah to me.
On top of that, I thought that while Kyle was really interesting and a pretty good guy overall, I just didn’t care about him or anyone else. I didn’t care that his dad was at Ground Zero or his mom was in LA. I was so numb and apathetic while reading this one. And it was about a really terrible thing! The bombings were horrible and I can remember them happening but I just did not care. I felt as though we were told that this terrible thing happened and then immediately removed from it so I just stopped thinking about the characters in relation to that, if that makes sense.
In the same vein, I thought the world building for this was really lacking. I find that when an author includes a tragic event that has happened in our present society, they exclude details of things that they would normally include if they were writing about a fictional tragedy that they added in. And that was definitely the case here. We got some details about the ash and the bridge being closed and how loud it sounded when the building fell, but it wasn’t enough to really put me in Kyle’s shoes, to feel his fear, to understand his worry, or anything like that. It was the bare bones of the tragedy rather than getting into the gritty details, which made it hard for me to connect with Kyle that way.
I did like that it was only going to take place over the course of the immediate days following the tragedy -- and I have heard that the ending gives you hope for the future. But I just don’t care enough to go back and finish it. I wanted something a little darker with some lightness to it rather than this. Also I just couldn’t handle the girl’s POV. I couldn’t.
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
DNF @ 53%
Tbh, this was a quick read up until this point, but I stopped and I just don’t really want to go back. I have no interest in it anymore and it is because of way it was written. This one states that there are alternating points of view -- and there are, but it is regular prose for Kyle’s point of view and then purple prose in a lyrical way for the girl. And it was so jarring to go from the regular prose to this weird poem right in the middle with no warning. At first I was like “wtf is this, did they screw up the eARC” but no it was just the way it was written. Just thinking about going back to read that is blah to me.
On top of that, I thought that while Kyle was really interesting and a pretty good guy overall, I just didn’t care about him or anyone else. I didn’t care that his dad was at Ground Zero or his mom was in LA. I was so numb and apathetic while reading this one. And it was about a really terrible thing! The bombings were horrible and I can remember them happening but I just did not care. I felt as though we were told that this terrible thing happened and then immediately removed from it so I just stopped thinking about the characters in relation to that, if that makes sense.
In the same vein, I thought the world building for this was really lacking. I find that when an author includes a tragic event that has happened in our present society, they exclude details of things that they would normally include if they were writing about a fictional tragedy that they added in. And that was definitely the case here. We got some details about the ash and the bridge being closed and how loud it sounded when the building fell, but it wasn’t enough to really put me in Kyle’s shoes, to feel his fear, to understand his worry, or anything like that. It was the bare bones of the tragedy rather than getting into the gritty details, which made it hard for me to connect with Kyle that way.
I did like that it was only going to take place over the course of the immediate days following the tragedy -- and I have heard that the ending gives you hope for the future. But I just don’t care enough to go back and finish it. I wanted something a little darker with some lightness to it rather than this. Also I just couldn’t handle the girl’s POV. I couldn’t.
Books and Ladders | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
kimching232's review against another edition
5.0
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I was only in prep 1 when the planes hit the twin towers. I remember not understanding what my teacher was saying when she told us the news the next day, and I just proceeded to talk with my seat mates. Being in the Philippines and being just a kid, I was clueless about what happened. It wasn't until years later that I learned and was able to comprehend the tragedy that struck New York that day.
According to the author's note, this book is not about tragedy but about hope, solidarity and peace amidst tragedy, and I think that it's the perfect description for this book. Kyle was moving away from the twin towers when he saw a girl in need of help. The girl lost her memory but Kyle took her with him to their apartment. This story follows how Kyle took charge in the absence of his parents, needing to take care of his paralyzed uncle and the girl who lost her memory, all while tracking his parents and sister through the disaster.
I know that this is not about tragedy, but let's just talk about that for a moment. Being in the Philippines and a kid when it happened, I didn't really know how big of a tragedy 9/11 is (and I use is because it still affects a lot of people until today). I knew that it was a tragedy, but I didn't care much. However, reading this book really made me feel what it was like to be in the middle of the tragedy, and the horror that everyone experienced. This book made 9/11 resonate in my heart and my memory.
Gae Polisner's writing style is just amazing that it allowed me to experience everything as if I was there myself. She writes in such a way that I was able to really absorb and internalize everything, and that's such a powerful thing for her to have because not all authors can do that. Sure, most authors can make us feel something, but not to this extent. And I'm glad that Gae Polisner used her talent to write about this topic because it's something that not many talk about.
Now onto the romance part. The romance is the clichéd convenient romance because they're the only two teenagers there, but it was also realistic in a way. They knew that things will be different after the tragedy, and they would have to deal with people outside of their bubble. In that way, it was realistic for me. Romance is not the central part of this book and it didn't really make me feel a lot of feels, but I think that it was a really important part of the story, with what the author was trying to get across.
Aside from the above-mentioned things, I don't really know what more to say about this book and I why I really liked it. It's just amazing overall and I don't know what details to give. The whole book just tied together so well from beginning to end. It's such a powerful novel, and I believe that everyone has to read it. It wasn't boring in any way, but it was kind of somber because of the overarching frame of tragedy. I would really like to read more books like this one when I get the time, and if you guys have read anything like this, please recommend some to me.
I was only in prep 1 when the planes hit the twin towers. I remember not understanding what my teacher was saying when she told us the news the next day, and I just proceeded to talk with my seat mates. Being in the Philippines and being just a kid, I was clueless about what happened. It wasn't until years later that I learned and was able to comprehend the tragedy that struck New York that day.
According to the author's note, this book is not about tragedy but about hope, solidarity and peace amidst tragedy, and I think that it's the perfect description for this book. Kyle was moving away from the twin towers when he saw a girl in need of help. The girl lost her memory but Kyle took her with him to their apartment. This story follows how Kyle took charge in the absence of his parents, needing to take care of his paralyzed uncle and the girl who lost her memory, all while tracking his parents and sister through the disaster.
I know that this is not about tragedy, but let's just talk about that for a moment. Being in the Philippines and a kid when it happened, I didn't really know how big of a tragedy 9/11 is (and I use is because it still affects a lot of people until today). I knew that it was a tragedy, but I didn't care much. However, reading this book really made me feel what it was like to be in the middle of the tragedy, and the horror that everyone experienced. This book made 9/11 resonate in my heart and my memory.
Gae Polisner's writing style is just amazing that it allowed me to experience everything as if I was there myself. She writes in such a way that I was able to really absorb and internalize everything, and that's such a powerful thing for her to have because not all authors can do that. Sure, most authors can make us feel something, but not to this extent. And I'm glad that Gae Polisner used her talent to write about this topic because it's something that not many talk about.
Now onto the romance part. The romance is the clichéd convenient romance because they're the only two teenagers there, but it was also realistic in a way. They knew that things will be different after the tragedy, and they would have to deal with people outside of their bubble. In that way, it was realistic for me. Romance is not the central part of this book and it didn't really make me feel a lot of feels, but I think that it was a really important part of the story, with what the author was trying to get across.
Aside from the above-mentioned things, I don't really know what more to say about this book and I why I really liked it. It's just amazing overall and I don't know what details to give. The whole book just tied together so well from beginning to end. It's such a powerful novel, and I believe that everyone has to read it. It wasn't boring in any way, but it was kind of somber because of the overarching frame of tragedy. I would really like to read more books like this one when I get the time, and if you guys have read anything like this, please recommend some to me.
jennyseiler's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this book. Beautifully written. I can't wait to purchase and share with my students and anyone who will listen when I tell them this is a must read.