Ground Zero

On 9/11, people in the Twin Towers are burned alive, die in falling elevators, jump from high floors, and are killed by the collapse of the buildings. In Afghanistan, characters remember how the Taliban massacred families, burned down schools, sold girls into slavery, and held public executions. An Afghan family has family members killed in attacks by both the Taliban and American forces. A battle between the Taliban and American soldiers is vividly described with soldiers being killed and wounded, a helicopter being shot down, and rocket attacks on soldiers and civilians.

A few instances of characters using "hell," "crap," and "damn."

The story mentions that Afghan farmers grow poppies as a raw material for heroin and that for many Afghan parents, heroin is the only medicine they can find to "ease the suffering" of their children. A character smokes a cigarette.

Parents need to know that Ground Zero, by Alan Gratz (Refugee), is told in alternating chapters by 9-year-old American Brandon Cruz and 11-year-old Reshmina, who lives in rural Afghanistan. Brandon's story begins on the morning of September 11, 2000. He's come to work with his father, who's a kitchen manager on 107^th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Reshmina begins her story on September 11, 2019, as her village becomes a deadly battleground between Taliban and American forces. For both, it's a day filled with violence. Brandon sees people burned alive, die in falling elevators, jump from high floors, and killed by the collapse of the Towers. In Afghanistan, Reshmina vividly describes the firefight between the Taliban and American soldiers and the destruction that comes to her village. But amid all this death and destruction there's also great courage and bravery, as strangers help one another escape the Towers and Reshmina's family risks their lives to give shelter to a wounded American soldier.