Dancing in the Rain

Gr 5–8—Two families marked by the tragic events of 9/11 come together. Twelve-year-old Elizabeth lives in the Dominican Republic with her mother and aunt. Her father works in a restaurant at the top of the tallest tower in New York City and sends money home to his family. Eight-year-old Brandt lives in New York with his Dominican mother and older brother Jared. Brandt's mother is a lawyer working at a firm in the World Trade Center. The plot unfolds in alternating chapters narrated by each child. Readers learn about imaginative Elizabeth and her love of her father, who is so far away yet seems closer than her no-nonsense mother. Meanwhile, Brandt's home life is tense, and he must bridge the gap between his mother and brilliant but difficult brother. When the Twin Towers fall apart, so do the two families. In a state of depression and having lost friends, colleagues, and her place of employment, Brandt's mother moves the family to her father's home on the Caribbean island. There the two children meet and team up in an effort to bring joy back into their mothers' lives. But can joy be given to others, or must it come from within? As the children figure out, there is no clear-cut answer to that question. Though the narrative is centered on the fall of the Twin Towers, in a broader sense it is a book on loss and grief.