The final installment of the recently purchased books relating to the 9/11 20th Anniversary is found in this article. “Hope and other Punch Lines”, by Julie Buxbaum is about resilience and reinvention, first love and lifelong friendship, the legacies of loss , and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. It asks the essential question: What does happily –ever-after look like in this beautiful, broken world?

“Truthers” by Geoffrey Girard is a mystery which examines one of the most critically-regarded events in history through the eyes of a tenacious teen who kept me up at night, challenging the things I’d previously regarded as fact. A deep, yet approachable story, both thrilling and touching.

“The Places We Sleep” by Caroline Brooks DuBois is a beautiful and moving novel in verse about a girl navigating her way towards adolescence in the midst of a national tragedy. Abbey has just moved to Tennessee and is trying to find her way in a new school when the attacks of 9/11 happen.

“Broken Strings” by Eric Walters. I flipped open the latches and opened the case. And there nestled in a deep blue silky lining, was an old violin. It was a bit beaten up and weathered, and a couple of strings were broken. But the wood, which was a dark, rich chestnut color, shone as if someone had polished it that very day. There were four small Stars of David carved in the corners of the front of the frame. I looked at the photo on the poster and compared it with the violin in front of me. “It’s the same one,” I whispered. The mystery of where this had come from and its relationship to my grandfather was getting bigger and deeper by the minute.

“This Very Tree” by Sean Rubin. In the 1970’s, a Callery pear tree was planted in New York City. And every year, its flowers ushered in the spring. But on September 11, 2001, everything changed. America was gravely wounded, as was the tree. This is the triumphant story of a tree that survived a tragedy—and of a nation in recovery. Told from the tree’s perspective, This Very Tree is a touching tribute to those we lost and to those who. After the towers fell, picked up the pieces, planted a forest, and built a new city.