We All Fall Down (Walters novel)

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We All Fall Down
We All Fall Down by Eric Walters cover art.jpeg
Random House first edition cover art [1]
AuthorEric Walters [2]
LanguageEnglish
PublishedToronto: Random House of Canada, 23 January 2007 [3]
Media typeBook
Pages195
AwardsRed Maple Award in 2007 [4]
ISBN 0385661924 [5]
OCLC 370171103

We All Fall Down is a novel by Canadian author Eric Walters, published in 2006 by Random House of Canada. The story follows Will, a ninth-grade student, spending a day with his father at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. It was awarded the Red Maple Award in 2007 [6] and was an honor book for the 2008 Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award. [7] [8] A sequel, United We Stand , was released in 2009.

Contents

Synopsis

Ninth-grader Will Fuller shadows his father, the vice president of an international trading company based in the World Trade Center. He is not looking forward to the visit, as his father has always been very focused on his work and Will worries that his father will not bother to make time for him.

Will's visit takes place on the morning of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and is told in rapid first-person narration as Will, his father, and other staff in the tower offices attempt to escape during the building's collapse. Will's best friend James's father works as a New York firefighter, adding another element of danger to the narrative. [9]

We All Fall Down received predominantly very positive reviews, [5] [10] but received some criticism for lengthy exposition designed to explain the background of the terrorist attacks to readers. [11]

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References

  1. Walters, Eric. "We All Fall Down". Eric Walters author website. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  2. McNicoll, Sylvia. "Introducing Eric Walters". Eric Walters (ericwalters.net). Retrieved 15 August 2014.. Walters cites "Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP)"; "Volume 28 Number 4 Winter 2006–2007".
      Posted together with a reprint of "Walters has a tiger by the tail", Kenneth Oppel, Quill & Quire , April 1999, p. 34.
  3. "We All Fall Down". Random House of Canada. Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  4. "Ontario Library Association "Tree Awards"". Canadian Children's Book News. 30 (3): 8. Summer 2007.
  5. 1 2 Pennell, Victoria (June 2006). "We All Fall Down". Resource Links. Vol. 11, no. 5.
  6. "2007/2008 Canadian Children's Book Award". Best Books for Kids and Teens. No. Annual 2008. Canadian Children's Book Center.
  7. "Awards and Announcements". Resource Links. 12 (5). June 2007.
  8. "Manitoba Report: Collene Fergusen, regional officer". Canadian Children's Book News. 30 (3): 38. Summer 2007.
  9. Cunningham, M. Wayne. "We All Fall Down". McNallyRobinson.com. Books in Canada. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  10. "Junior Fiction: for tweens ages 8-13". Best Books for Kids and Teens (Annual 2008): 15.
  11. Wiersema, Robert J. (5 April 2006). "We All Fall Down". Quill & Quire: Canada's magazine of book news and reviews. St. Joseph Media. Retrieved 15 August 2014.