With Their Eyes: September 11th--The View from a High School at Ground Zero

Rating:
Summary: moving
Review: (...)I read the whole thing in under an hour. I realize I'm a little biased, but this book is absolutely amazing. A lot of the 9/11 accounts you hear are sappy and formulaic, people talking about how their lives will never be the same, blah blah blah. But these accounts are real and candid. The monologues cover the entire spectrum of Stuy students, faculty and staff. You experience the day and its effects from many perspectives. Though sometimes it reads a little slowly - there's a lot of "like" and "ummm" - you can almost forgive it because you realize that these are real people expressing their thoughts on a very intense day...and sometimes the words don't come so easily. I recommend it to everyone, in particular, adolescents, because they will have the easiest time relating to the stories of the students.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just Another Sad 9/11 story . . .
Review: I was fortunate enough to see the original production of With Their Eyes, brought alive by the exquisite producing talents of Ms. L. Long Waldor, and it has stuck with me quite firmly ever since. in a style similar to that of plays such as The Laramie Project, the September 11th terrorist attacks are narrated in this play by Stuyvesant high school students and staff who were witness to them, or to the immediate aftermath of the attacks. the people interviewed are of different nationalities, different social backgrounds, and all had different experiences on September 11th. these monologues are moving and observant and often very funny. this is a beautiful and fascinating piece to read, as well as a wonderful play to perform, particularly in a high school theater. buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: A Subjective View from a Stuy Alumni
Review: Never have I been prouder to be a graduate of Stuyvesant High School. On the morning of September 11th, when hijackers were flying the first plane into the WTC, I was shopping in the Cortlandt street Borders. I immediately left the store and sought comfort in my school, making it to the bridge just in time to see the second plane hook around and plow into the tower. I witnessed September 11th with the writers of the book; I was fortunate enough to work with Annie Thoms on my senior production of SING, months after the tragedy. While the stories are much more touching when heard in the people's own words...or at least performed on stage, as they were last year, the book touches you just the same. You don't have to know the ones telling their stories to feel what they did. The children are universal; their pain was all of New York's pain, was all of America's pain. And they have all prevailed since then, which gives the book such a happy ending. I am not a sappy person. I did not cry the day of the attacks. But I cried when I read this book. Even if only because it provides a sense of closure.

Rating:
Summary: A Subjective View from a Stuy Alumni
Review: Never have I been prouder to be a graduate of Stuyvesant High School. On the morning of September 11th, when hijackers were flying the first plane into the WTC, I was shopping in the Cortlandt street Borders. I immediately left the store and sought comfort in my school, making it to the bridge just in time to see the second plane hook around and plow into the tower. I witnessed September 11th with the writers of the book; I was fortunate enough to work with Annie Thoms on my senior production of SING, months after the tragedy. While the stories are much more touching when heard in the people's own words...or at least performed on stage, as they were last year, the book touches you just the same. You don't have to know the ones telling their stories to feel what they did. The children are universal; their pain was all of New York's pain, was all of America's pain. And they have all prevailed since then, which gives the book such a happy ending. I am not a sappy person. I did not cry the day of the attacks. But I cried when I read this book. Even if only because it provides a sense of closure.

Rating:
Summary: I Thought Today Would Be Like Every Other
Review: Stuyvesant High School is practically next to ground zero, so the students, teachers and staff at the New York City High School had an eyewitness seat to the World Trade Center tragedy. The school was closed and The FBI and local fire and police took over, making the school a command and communications center while the site was excavated. Stuy became famous as its inhabitants generously gave their space, their time and themselves to feed workers, donate blood and help out.
When the school finally reopened, the drama coach decided that the winter play should focus on the experiences they had been through since September, and the students did hundreds of interviews, whittling them down into poetic monologues in natural language to create an ensemble piece of 10 accounts of what happened Sept 11th and how their lives have been changed. A pregnant teacher, a school janitor, and a Muslim student are just some of the voices heard. While some entries are a bit redundant, there are truly moving moments and unique insights in every piece. One can only imagine the power this performance would have.
At once a memorial, tribute, primary source, and dramatic play, this work of literature should have a place on every library shelf. The paperback edition is more than affordable.
Side note: My young adult book group met on Oct 8, and I booktalked about 20 books for them to consider for our next 6 meetings. The kids groaned as I introduced book after book that contained murder, crime, angst and abuse. "Don't you have anything happy?" they whined. I gave them a few upbeat options, and last but not least, mentioned With Their Eyes. And FIVE out of seven voted for it! And even got excited about the idea of perhaps doing a dramatic reading (no one followed through though). I was stunned and pleased at their excitement over this book.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Stuyvesant High School is practically next to ground zero, so the students, teachers and staff at the New York City High School had an eyewitness seat to the World Trade Center tragedy. The school was closed and The FBI and local fire and police took over, making the school a command and communications center while the site was excavated. Stuy became famous as its inhabitants generously gave their space, their time and themselves to feed workers, donate blood and help out.
When the school finally reopened, the drama coach decided that the winter play should focus on the experiences they had been through since September, and the students did hundreds of interviews, whittling them down into poetic monologues in natural language to create an ensemble piece of 10 accounts of what happened Sept 11th and how their lives have been changed. A pregnant teacher, a school janitor, and a Muslim student are just some of the voices heard. While some entries are a bit redundant, there are truly moving moments and unique insights in every piece. One can only imagine the power this performance would have.
At once a memorial, tribute, primary source, and dramatic play, this work of literature should have a place on every library shelf. The paperback edition is more than affordable.
Side note: My young adult book group met on Oct 8, and I booktalked about 20 books for them to consider for our next 6 meetings. The kids groaned as I introduced book after book that contained murder, crime, angst and abuse. "Don't you have anything happy?" they whined. I gave them a few upbeat options, and last but not least, mentioned With Their Eyes. And FIVE out of seven voted for it! And even got excited about the idea of perhaps doing a dramatic reading (no one followed through though). I was stunned and pleased at their excitement over this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just Another Sad 9/11 story . . .
Review: This book is amazing. Everyone living in New York on September 11th has their own 9/11 story. . .This book tells students and teachers from Stuy's stories about 9/11 and its aftermath. The book tells the untold stories of the students and teaches.. . .At first I though this book was just going to be 10 different accounts of planes hitting the WTC. . .but it is not that at all. Instead it is personal accouts of how 9/11 touched their lives. I recomend this book to everyone, especially people not from New York who want to comprehend how September 11th affected and changed lives

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a great book!
Review: This is absolutely the best book I have seen this year. This nonfiction book really, and I mean really, tells the stories of what it was like to not only go to school their but also to work there. Stuyvesant high school is ranked number one in the country for a reason! These children, especially the ones who haven't been there for long, really got involved and brought out the best in this play which makes such a great book! I was fortunate enough to see this play both days and I was fortunate enough to witness a wonderful performance from all ten actors, and witness the producing and promotion talents of both producers, and a most special direction by both directors! Buy This Book! What's This Called you ask? IT'S WITH THEIR EYES!!!!

Rating:
Summary: I Thought Today Would be LIke all The Others
Review: This is an amazing book it is made up of poems by children who were in a school at ground zero, on September 11, 2001. The day that all Americans will never forget, stuck with so much emotion and heart break. This is how they are dealing with the loss of family, friends, and people they never thought would die this way. Together this put brilliance, tears, heart break, smiles that it's over for now, and poems that act as therapy.

Rating:
Summary: incredible work
Review: This is not a broad-brush, wasn't-it-awful retelling. It's a very thoughtful, direct, personal contemplation of a very scary day and the weeks that followed. The characters' speeches in the book are the real words of people at the high school -- students and adults who worked there -- who have lives and personalties beyond 9/11. I felt they were all talking to me. The choice of voices and incidents is wonderfully diverse. I keep pushing this book on friends, and we always find different things to discuss.

This one will keep you both riveted and thinking for a long time.