Blog #22

9-11: Artists Respond Volume One

Jeremiah 17, 7-9

Written and Illustrated by: Mira Friedmann

Written by: Many artists

Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

2002

            This book is an interesting piece of literature.  This book is a collection of graphic novels that fall into the category of historical fiction.  All if these pieces are based upon the real event of the 9-11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001.  This book is an compilation of their response to that day.  Since there are over two hundred different entries into this volume, it is hard to pinpoint one piece, but I would like to talk about an entry by Mira Friedmann called Jeremiah 17, 7-9.  This graphic novel spans two pages of the book, but it is unique and profound to me.  It shows the story of a firefighter who is working to clean up the debris from the fallen Twin Towers.  He is eating an apple.  He throws the eaten core onto the ground and it eventually yields a small plant, then a small bush, and then an apple tree.  The words of Jeremiah 17, 7-9 say: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

            Mira Fiedmann also illustrated this graphic novel.  It appears that she used acrylics and markers.  She used the graphic novel layout with the line of text above the illustrations.  That is formal text placement.  Fiedmann used a bold line to differentiate between objects in her illustrations.  She also used many grays, deep blues, and greens.  Those colors represent the scene of New York.  The dust and debris covered the sky those awful, dreary colors.  I especially love the illustrations of the debris.  That scene is a historical picture of what New York was portrayed as for the next few years as they cleaned up the remains of the Twin Towers.  Also, the tree in the end is a fantastic representation of the hope that the nation had to find after the entire disaster and how we had to move on after the traumatic experience.

            I would use this book with older children in higher grades.  Graphic novels are better for older children because they are able to follow the text and comprehend with more understanding.  I would use this book with older children to help them better see how Americans reacted to 9-11 in 2001.  This would also be a great book to read aloud on September 11^th to start conversation about that day and how it impacted the students lives’ as well.  Other entries into this book bring out specifics about that day and what followed such as airline security measures, scared citizens, a damaged city, war, and loss of life.