Summary:
In The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, we meet young, ambitious, tight rope walker Philippe. When we come into his life, he has just set his sights on a new challenge...the Twin Towers (the tallest buildings in New York City). He knows from experience that he will never be able to gain permission for his endeavor, so one night, he surreptitiously goes to the roof before the buildings are completed. With the help of friends, he places the cable on which he will walk. Just as dawn breaks, he begins his walk on a cable that is a quarter of a mile from the ground. I hope I have whetted your appetite to see how the historic walk ends and what becomes of Philippe.
My Evaluation:
Considering all of the tragic memories that are now associated with the Twin Towers, this story is a beautiful capturing of happier memories. The vivid illustrations make you feel like you are experiencing the walk with Philippe - especially on the fold-out pages. I love it when authors bring obscure stories to light. So many intriguing stories just like this would be forgotten without someone to bring them to life for future generations. It can be very difficult at times to address places (such as the Twin Towers) that have such tragic associations, yet this author graced us with this happy story and gave a very respectful and touching memorial at the end of his book. Well done. I would highly recommend this read.
Review:
Robinson, L. (2003, November). Mordicai Gerstein The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. Horn Book Magazine, 79(6), 763-764.
"Once there were two towers side by side.... The tallest buildings in New York City." Another September 11 book? No-and yes. Gerstein's story takes place in 1974, when the World Trade Towers' construction wasn't quite finished. Philippe Petit, the French street performer and high-wire walker, couldn't resist the temptation to dance between the twin towers. "Once the idea came to him he knew he had to do it! If he saw three balls, he had to juggle. If he saw two towers, he had to walk! That's how he was." Gerstein is in top form, pulling the reader into his story with a conversational style extended by playful pen and paint illustrations. Like Petit, Gerstein conceals much careful planning behind an obvious enjoyment of his subject. As the book starts, rectangular paintings are set well inside the edge of each white page. When Philippe and his co-conspirators, disguised as construction workers, toil through the night setting up the wire, the area between the illustrations' borders and the edge of the page fills with a gray-blue wash, providing the visual equivalent of foreboding background music. As dawn breaks and Philippe gets ready to step onto the wire, the blue fades away. Now we're ready to be exhilarated and terrified-and on two successive foldout pages, we are. The first heart-stopping image shows Philippe from above as he moves to the middle of the wire. The tiny buildings below him seem terrifyingly distant while on the far right his destination, the top of the tower, is shown with exaggerated perspective, taking our eye down, down, and off the bottom of the page. Next we see the same scene from the ground with the book turned on its side. People on the street look up in surprise and fear while a cop calls for assistance. The denouement takes us back to solid ground and back to the rectangle-on-white illustrations. Philippe is arrested, as we knew he would be, but the kindly judge sentences him to perform in Central Park. Finally, the last pages bring us to the present ("Now the towers are gone"), showing the current empty skyscape. "But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there." And so they are on the last page, translucent against the clouds, with a tiny Philippe on his wire connecting the towers to each other and the past to the present.
Rochman, H. (November, 2003). Books for the Young. Booklist, 100(5), 498.
Here’s a joyful true story of the World Trade Center from a time of innocence before 9/11. In 1974 French trapeze artist Philippe Petit walked a tightrope suspended between the towers before they were completed. Gerstein’s simple words and dramatic ink-and-oil paintings capture the exhilarating feats, the mischief, and the daring of the astonishing young acrobat. He knew his plan was illegal, so he dressed as a construction worker, and, with the help of friend s , lugged a reel of cable up the steps during the night and linked the buildings in the sky. As dawn broke, he stepped out on the wire and performed tricks above the city. Gerstein uses varied perspectives to tell the story—from the close-up jacket picture of one foot on the rope to the fold-out of Petit high above the traffic, swaying in the wind. Then there’s a quiet view of the city skyline now, empty of the towers, and an astonishing image of the tiny figure high on the wire between the ghostly buildings we remember.
My Suggestions for Use in a Library Setting:
I would use this book as an opening for a presentation in the library by a child physiologist on how to deal with tragedy. The talk would focus on children and how joy can still come out of despair and heartache. It could even be a starting point for a series of talks by leading experts in the community.
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