Forged In Memory

For those born prior to September 11, 2001 and old enough to remember, the day will never be forgotten.  Everyone remembers where they were, who they were with and what they were doing on the morning of that September day.  The attacks and everything tied to them, then and now, are part of the larger American consciousness.

In this year of the fifteenth anniversary, several fiction titles have been released.  Of those I have, to date, read two, Nine, Ten:  A September 11 Story (Atheneum Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, June 28, 2016) written by Nora Raleigh Baskin and The Memory of Things (St. Martin's Griffin, September 6, 2016) by Gae Polisner.  Seven and a half Tons of Steel (Peachtree Publishers, August 1, 2016) written by Janet Nolan with illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez is a nonfiction picture book.  This exceptional story tells how from devastation something new and strong was built.

THERE IS A SHIP, a navy ship.  It is called the USS New York.  It is big like other navy ships, and it sails like other navy ships, but there is something different, something special about the USS New York.

This ship has something no other vessel ever made has or will ever have.  When the World Trade Center twin towers fell an enormous area of destruction resulted.  This area named Ground Zero was the site of a massive removal of metal, concrete, and stone.  One large steel beam was taken from New York City to the state of Louisiana.

In Louisiana it was heated in a foundry until as a liquid it was poured into a mold.  This shape was so enormous you won't believe how many days it took for it to cool.  On the body of a ship the front portion is known as the bow.  This newly formed steel was formed into a ship's bow.  Skilled workers toiled until it was ready to be taken to a shipyard.

At the shipyard in New Orleans other highly trained builders worked to construct the USS New York.  It was a momentous day when the ship was ready for the new bow.  An American flag was placed on the piece of steel as it was fitted to the vessel.  Before the USS New York could be completed Mother Nature intervened. Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes of many of the workers.

Temporary housing, Kamp Katrina, allowed them to continue.  On its maiden voyage the USS New York slowly glided over the waters of the New York Harbor pausing opposite the site where the World Trade Center twin towers had been.  A twenty-one gun salute rang out.  The seven and a half tons of steel which slices through the water first as this ship does its job is a reminder, bearing the motto Never Forget.


As you read each sentence and the paragraphs they compose, a true sense of the extraordinary, historic significance of this ship's bow envelopes you.  Janet Nolan respectfully describes the events of September 11, 2001 but proceeds to place emphasis on the journey of the single beam of steel from the rubble to a place of honor on the ship's bow.  Most page turns will reveal only two or three sentences at a time with the exception of the description of Hurricane Katrina and both arrivals of the ship in New York Harbor.  Each verb, cleared, carried, heated, melted, worked, finished and sailed, selected conveys intention and purpose.  As a whole it's a tribute to the fortitude of people, steely resolve fashioned with heart.  Here is another sample passage.

Shipbuilders stopped their work and
came to watch.  Draped in an American flag,
seven and a half tons of steel were lifted
by a crane and welded into place
on the USS New York. 


Spanning from left edge to right edge, the matching image on the dust jacket and book case focuses on the majesty of the ship's bow cutting through the water with the expanse of the seascape on the right and the city skyline on the left.  It's a breathtaking portrait, an intimate view.  Thomas Gonzalez begins his visual interpretation of the story on the opening endpaper with the clear blue sky lighter on the left becoming darker as the background moves to the right.  In the lower left-hand corner are the twin towers all alone.  In the upper right-hand corner a plane flies to the left.  A child, wearing a backpack and carrying books and a baseball mitt, looks up.

The next page turn reveals a stunning image of downtown New York City.  Taxis line the street.  In the rear window of them the plane is flying toward the tower.  In a close-up of a car mirror in the lower half of the right side of the two-page illustration, the plane is a blur moving toward the tower.  The title page is an expanse of blue with the nose of the plane striking the tower.  On the closing endpaper a magnificent picture shows a portion of the hand holding the torch in the Statue of Liberty, large in the foreground on the left.  Behind is the skyline of New York City with clouds of yellows and oranges on a darkened blue sky.  In the lower right-hand corner the USS New York moves toward the statue.  (Please notice that the flaps of the jacket mirror the endpapers beneath them.)

All the illustrations rendered in pastel, colored pencil, and watercolor on archival 100% rag watercolor paper by Gonzalez span two pages, each worthy of framing.  For each picture he has selected an emotional focal point or specific portion of the text thus giving readers varying perspectives.  For the 9/11 attacks the large billows of smoke radiant from the tower.  On the next page we zoom in to Ground Zero.  Stuffed animals, pictures, flowers and mementos fill the pages as a person bends over to light a candle.  We are very close to the face and arm of this individual.  At the foundry it's easy to imagine the noise and heat during the melting of the steel and the pouring of the liquid into the mold.  These are very personal depictions replete with details.

One of my favorite of many illustrations is of the men and women returning to the shipyard after Hurricane Katrina to complete the building of the USS New York.  The point of view is as if we are one of the workers.  They are wearing appropriate attire carrying or wearing their hardhats.  One person has raised a paper on a clipboard.  They are placed on either side of the sign Kamp Katrina.  This is a tribute to these people.


Even after several readings of Seven and a half Tons of Steel written by Janet Nolan with illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez the emotional impact amid historical facts remains.  The research by the author and illustrator are evident in the included elements by each.  At the close of the book are more facts about the USS New York and the crest of the USS New York.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional bookshelves.


To learn more about Janet Nolan and Thomas Gonzalez please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Janet Nolan and Thomas Gonzalez are interviewed at the Peachtree Publishers blog.  The publisher has also provided a teacher's guide.  Janet Nolan is interviewed at PictureBookBuilders.  An article in Publishers Weekly addresses this title.  Author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson follows her review at BookPage with illustrations at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.   Here is a link to the ship's official website, the USS New York LPD-21.  More information about the World Trade Center can be found at History.com.  Here are links to news articles about the ship's journey during and after its completion, USS New York: A Ship Forged From Tragedy, USS New York made from World Trade Center steel sets sail for NYC, A Voyage Bearing a Memory and U.S.S. New York Reaches Manhattan.  The following two videos are from the United States Navy.  They contain some similar footage.




Please be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy a blog hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the other titles selected by bloggers participating in the 2016 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Hip Hop Hooray

If a wild creature frequents my yard or garden I have the habit of naming them.  As each winter draws to a close, I eagerly await their return.  For several years there was a large toad about the size of my closed fist who comfortably resided beneath the big bush next to my front porch.  I called him Fred.  A tree toad made his home in the corner of my front porch or sometimes I would find him on my back deck.  When Theo would appear in the spring I felt like all was right with the world.  He was a part of my life for three years.

 More than any date on a calendar or weather update I rely on those inhabitants in our natural world to send me signals.  They feel the heartbeat of Mother Earth far better than we ever will.  I could hardly wait for my copy of Toad Weather (Peachtree Publishers, March 2015) written by Sandra Markle with illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez to arrive.  It is well worth the wait.

In the gloomy-gray 
of a March day
the spring rain keeps falling.

Ally and her grandmother are feeling the effects of a day without sunshine; their usual outdoor activities put on hold.  When Mama eagerly opens the door moments later, she urges them to come with her right away.  She has discovered something special in the city.  Ally is ready for an adventure; her grandmother reluctantly agrees to come too.

In the dim light as dusk falls, the trio makes their way down the sidewalks ready to see what there is to see.  As Ally and her grandmother move quickly, ready to get out of the rain, her mother asks them to slow down and carefully look.  Ally does noticing details.  Her grandmother grumbles.

Each time Ally thinks she has discovered the surprise her mother requests them to keep walking.  Each time Mama says no Grandma wants to turn around and go home.  They finally get to a spot where Mama wants them to stop and listen.

Listen for something unusual.

Ally does hear something out of the ordinary.  It's getting clearer as they move closer.  They see a large group of people, police, a road block and toads...lots and lots of toads.  Grandmother's grumbling turns to grinning.  The trio assists in the amphibian march.


Well-known nonfiction author Sandra Markle evokes a keen sense of time and place, specifically the descriptions of weather and time of day, in the telling of this natural phenomenon.  In her Author's Note she speaks about the actual event taking place in a neighborhood located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania each year.  By experiencing it through the voice of Ally and the dialogue between her, her mother and her grandmother, it becomes more personal for us.  Here are a couple sample passages.

Out in the rainy nearly-nighttime,
streetlights are glowing.
So are shop windows.
But the world is soggy dreary.


"Slow down, you two!" Mama says.
"There are lots of interesting things
to see along the way."
"Like what?" Grandma asks.

"For one thing," Mama says,
"look at all the colorful umbrellas."

"It's like being inside a rainbow," I say.


Even though the artwork on the dusk jacket and book case appear to be identical, your guys and gals will notice the subtle difference on the jacket immediately.  Their fingers love to move over raised text or images.  The toad looks and feels as if it's ready to hop at any second.

When you open the jacket and case you can see Thomas Gonzalez has extended the illustration to the left with swirls of rain on the pavement, portions of three other toads moving from the left edge toward the boots and first toad on the front.  The opening and closing endpapers feature water on pavement in an array of color due to other liquids like gas or oil dropping on the rain.  There is a difference in the closing endpapers but I will let you discover the addition yourselves.  On the initial title page Ally, carrying her umbrella and a flashlight, and wearing her spotted boots is looking right at us, a smile on her face.  A clever verso and formal title page combination highlights the apartment window spattered with rain and an image similar to the front jacket and book case.

All the pictures rendered in pastel, colored pencil, and airbrush on 100% rag watercolor paper span across two pages; the text woven into each.  So exquisite are the details it's like looking at softened photographs.  Gonzalez takes us from a conversation exchanged in the apartment to the city streets effortlessly, showing us a more panoramic view or only boots walking down the rainy sidewalks.  The facial features on the characters are absolutely lovely.  I wonder how long he studied toads to get them looking exactly as they are.

One of my favorite pictures is a close-up of Ally.  She is down at ground level looking at worms crossing the grass and sidewalk.  We see her face peering closely at several in particular, flashlight beam illuminating a portion of her face and a worm.  Curiosity and appreciation are evident in her expression.


As I look out my windows at mounds of snow, knowing it will be months before we have our own days fit for our amphibian friends, Toad Weather written by Sandra Markle with illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez is a reminder of the wonder which awaits.  It's an invitation for us to think about the familiar rhythms of the seasons and the life cycles of those sharing the planet with us.  Make sure you save a spot on your shelves for this work of nonfiction.

To explore more about Sandra Markle and Thomas Gonzalez please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  This link takes you to a Teacher's Guide devised by the publisher.


Please take the time to stop by educator Alyson Beecher's website Kid Lit Frenzy to see the titles other bloggers have included in their posts for this week's 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.