Patriot Day Reading List

Fiction and non-fiction books about 9/11 recommended by our Librarians.

Updated September 5, 2025
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The only plane in the sky : an oral history of 9/11
Graff, Garrett M.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "This is history at its most immediate and moving...A marvelous and memorable book." --Jon Meacham ​"Remarkable...A priceless civic gift...On page after page, a reader will encounter words that startle,...
The only plane in the sky
Graff, Garrett M.,
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "This is history at its most immediate and moving...A marvelous and memorable book." --Jon Meacham ​"Remarkable...A priceless civic gift...On page after page, a reader will encounter words that startle,...
Extremely loud & incredibly close
Foer, Jonathan Safran
Paper Book
A funny, uplifting novel about a boy's journey through New York in the aftermath of September 11th from one of today's most celebrated writers. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell embarks on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His...
Extremely loud & incredibly close
Foer, Jonathan Safran
Paper Book
A funny, uplifting novel about a boy's journey through New York in the aftermath of September 11th from one of today's most celebrated writers. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell embarks on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His...
Towers falling /
Rhodes, Jewell Parker
Paper Book
From award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks in a classroom of students who cannot remember the event but live through the aftermath of its cultural shift. When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons...
Ground Zero /
Gratz, Alan,
Paper Book
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Acclaimed storyteller Alan Gratz (Refugee) delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear -- and the stunning links between the past and present. September 11, 2001, New...
Ground zero :
Gratz, Alan,
Paper Book
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller. Acclaimed storyteller Alan Gratz (Refugee) delivers a pulse-pounding and unforgettable take on history and hope, revenge and fear -- and the stunning links between the past and present. September 11, 2001, New...
The day the world came to town
DeFede, Jim
Paper Book
The True Story Behind the Events on 9/11 that Inspired Broadway's Smash Hit Musical Come from Away, Featuring All New Material from the Author When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S....
The day the world came to town :
DeFede, Jim
Paper Book
The True Story Behind the Events on 9/11 that Inspired Broadway's Smash Hit Musical Come from Away, Featuring All New Material from the Author When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S....
This very tree :
Rubin, Sean,
Paper Book
A deeply moving story about community and resilience, from the point-of-view of the Callery pear tree that survived the attacks on September 11, from Eisner Award-nominated author-illustrator Sean Rubin. * "A resonant, beautifully rendered testament to life and renewal." --...
102 minutes :
Dwyer, Jim,
Paper Book
The dramatic and moving account of the struggle for life inside the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, when every minute counted At 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, 14,000 people were inside the twin towers-reading e-mails, making trades, eating croissants at...
I survived the attacks of September 11, 2001
Tarshis, Lauren.
Paper Book
On the day that shocks the world, one boy just wants to find his family. A powerful addition to the gripping I Survived series. The only thing Lucas loves more than football is his Uncle Benny, his dad's best friend at the fire department where they both work. Benny taught Lucas everything...
The looming tower : Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11
Wright, Lawrence
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * PULITZER PRIZE WINNER * A "heart-stopping account of the events leading up to 9/11" (The New York Times Book Review), this definitive history explains in gripping detail the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the intelligence failures that...
Nine, ten :
Baskin, Nora Raleigh
Paper Book
From the critically acclaimed author of Anything But Typical comes a "tense...and thought-provoking" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) look at the days leading up to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and how that day impacted the lives of four middle schoolers.
The ground truth :
Farmer, John J.
Paper Book
From the senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, a mesmerizing real-time portrayal of that day, why we weren't told the truth, and why our nation is still at risk. As one of the primary authors of the 9/11 Commission Report, John Farmer is proud of his and his colleagues? work....
Ghost wars :
Coll, Steve
Paper Book
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction * A New York Times bestseller "The CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events . . . Deeply satisfying." --The New York Review of Books From the award-winning and...
Fall and rise :
Zuckoff, Mitchell
Paper Book
"Better and more comprehensive than any prior account. . . . Those of us who lived through those days will find the book cathartic; those rising generations who were too young to remember 9/11, or who weren't yet born, will find it revelatory." -- John Farmer, senior counsel to the 9/11...
America Is under Attack: September 11, 2001 - The Day the Towers Fell
Brown, Don
Paper Book
One of School Library Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of 2011 One of Horn Book's Best Nonfiction Books of 2011 On the ten year anniversary of the September 11 tragedy, a straightforward and sensitive book for a generation of readers too young to remember that...
14 cows for America
Paper Book
This New York Times bestseller recounts the true story of the touching gift bestowed on the US by the Maasai people in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In June of 2002, a mere nine months since the September 11 attacks, a very unusual ceremony begins in a far-flung...
What were the Twin Towers? /
O'Connor, Jim
Paper Book
Discover the true story of the Twin Towers-how they came to be the tallest buildings in the world and why they were destroyed. When the Twin Towers were built in 1973, they were billed as an architectural wonder. At 1,368 feet, they clocked in as the tallest buildings in the...
What were the Twin Towers? /
O'Connor, Jim
Paper Book
Discover the true story of the Twin Towers-how they came to be the tallest buildings in the world and why they were destroyed. When the Twin Towers were built in 1973, they were billed as an architectural wonder. At 1,368 feet, they clocked in as the tallest buildings in the...
September 11 /
Romero, Libby,
Paper Book
The events of September 11, 2001, changed the world forever. With compelling photographs and sensitive, age-appropriate text, this Level 3 reader recounts the shocking attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania, explains who was behind the attacks, and celebrates the...

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