Branches of Hope: The 9/11 Survivor Tree

♦ Text and pictures attest to the resilience of New Yorkers and a remarkable tree following 9/11.
A pear tree is discovered—scarred, burned, and buried—under mounds of rubble after the collapse of the Twin Towers and replanted in a nursery in the Bronx, where it eventually regrows and thrives. This deeply touching book equates the tree’s extraordinary renaissance with New Yorkers’ reawakened strength, spirit, and hope in the aftermath of the tragedy. One particular family—portrayed as an interracial couple (mom presents Black and dad, White) and their very young child—stand in for all New…

“Season after season, the tree grew./ Each spring arrived with warm whispers and healing rain.” Commemorating 9/11 two decades after its occurrence, debut author Magee’s free verse narrative focuses on a city’s endurance as symbolized by New York City’s Survivor Tree, a Callery pear in the World Trade Center Plaza that survived the buildings’ collapse. Alongside the visual story of the attacks and their aftermath, Wong’s detailed digital illustrations present the wordless tale of a child, a toddler during the attacks, growing up and becoming a first responder. In a scrapbook-style layout…

A young girl, who is biracial, and her family experience the tragedy of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in New York City, with the special lens of having a family member who is in the New York City Fire Department. Through juxtaposed wordless illustrated scenes and illustrations with text, readers experience the tragedy of the day, the aftermath, and the healing of the city and those who bravely came to the rescue. Also featured is a tree, a Callery pear tree that survived the destruction of the World Trade Center. The tree was excavated from the rubble and years later replanted near the South…

This memoir-like story, told in spare, careful sentences that recall helping actions around 9/11, portrays the day and subsequent years by following the growth of a little girl and of a tree that survived the attack. The 9/11 Survivor Tree was found at Ground Zero and moved to a nursery, a move that, like some other events in the book, is shown only in the art, thoughtfully leaving adults to fill in children’s questions with the level of detail a child can handle. Seasons change, the years pass, and the tree eventually returns as part of the 9/11 memorial. Paralleling that story is that of…

A pear tree that survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City has become a symbol of hope in adversity. Magee's respectful, lyrical text follows the tree's story through the seasons from its discovery as "something green among the ashes," to its regrowth off-site, to its replanting at Ground Zero ten years later. Wong's softly textured illustrations incorporate a wordless fictional story, told via inset panels, featuring a mixed-race girl and her family (including an FDNY firefighting relative); their lives parallel the tree's resilience. Both text and art present events soberly but…

“This true-life fable about a tree that survived 9/11 commemorates the attack while evoking a resilient spirit and the healing power of nature."

“ Branches of Hope is a tribute to resilience and hope, a gentle way to talk with our youngest readers about the memory of 9/11.”