Ground Zero by Alan Gratz - Review

Book Synopsis:

It's September 11, 2001. Brandon, a 9-year-old boy, goes to work for the day with his dad . . . at the World Trade Center in New York City. When two planes hit the towers, Brandon and his father are trapped inside a fiery nightmare as terror and confusion swirl around them. Can they escape -- and what will the world be like when they do?

In present-day Afghanistan, Reshmina is an 11-year-old girl who is used to growing up in the shadow of war, but she has dreams of peace and unity. When she ends up harboring a wounded young American soldier, she and her entire family are put in mortal danger. But Reshmina also learns something surprising about the roots of this endless war.

My Review:

4/5 stars. I don't have any major complaints about this book, but it wasn't outstanding by any means. It was a good book that kept me engaged the whole way through and had some great emotional beats, but it was fairly simple and didn't stand out to me. I enjoyed the overarching themes/message of the story.

I used to be a big fan of Alan Gratz' books when I was younger, but reading this now after not having read his books for a few years, the writing style stuck out to me in a bit of a negative way. I understand that it is middle grade, but the writing was very simple. Lots of telling instead of showing, not a lot of vivid descriptions, etc. There were also a few times where I had a hard time believing a 9 or 11-year-old would use certain words or process thoughts the way they did.

That was my only real complaint, though. Now I'll move onto the aspects I enjoyed. The plot was very engaging and action-packed throughout. Since it was a dual perspective, there were often times when one chapter ended on a cliffhanger, so I had to read two more chapters to get back to the first POV. That made it easier to fly through the story.

With the dual perspective, though, I was invested in Brandon's story more than Reshmina's. Maybe it's because I don't have as much of a background for her story, but I found myself having more feelings toward the 9/11 story. Seeing the horrors of that day from the perspective of a 9-year-old kid was heartbreaking, and what happens to him in general is so sad. One little detail in his story that I liked was the inclusion of a minor blind character.

In Reshmina's story, however, I loved the themes of forgiveness and not giving in to revenge. That came up in multiple ways, both with her brother and with the discussions of why the war was even happening. They were almost Biblical concepts, so I really enjoyed those messages. It was also interesting how the end of her story showed the nuances to both sides of the war and that it wasn't just black and white.

The two characters' stories connected in the end. While I was able to predict how they would be connected early on, it was still cool. The themes of one nicely tied into the other, years later. You understand the motivations of one character based on who they were in the past.

Content:

Language: h*ll, d*mn, God's name taken in vain

Sexual Content: None

Violence: Lots of violence but nothing gory; mentions of dead bodies, injuries, blood, body parts, etc.

Drugs/Alcohol: Mentions of heroin, how it was used and how it is addictive