Ground Zero is a book with heart pounding action from start to finish, written by none other than the award winning author Alan Gratz, who has written many other bestsellers including Refugee, Code of Honor, and much more.

The story of Ground Zero follows the lives of Brandon, a 9 year old 9/11 survivor living in Manhattan. It also follows the life of Reshmina, an 11 year old living in rural Afghanistan in 2019, whose village is devastated by war and chaos.

One morning, Brandon is suspended from school so he goes with his father to the World Trade Center, where he works. For a while, everything is going just fine. Then a plane strikes the building. Everybody goes into a panic trying to escape. But the plane crash separated Brandon and his father, and Brandon courageously travels up the building to find his dad, but will he succeed?

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, lives Reshmina and her family. Unfortunately for the village, American and Terrorist armies are at war in Afghanistan because of the 9/11 attack. One day, a battle takes place close to the village, and Reshmina stumbles upon a wounded American soldier from the battle. Reshmina learns that the soldier was blinded from the battle, and she reluctantly takes the soldier home… But what will happen next?

Gratz connects the dots between these two stories and intertwines them brilliantly throughout the entire novel, turning two small stories in to one amazingly crafted story with many revelations by the end.

I would recommend Ground Zero to any readers who have a passion for action packed and thrilling novels or to anyone who enjoys historic stories based on real events. If you want to read more about how Brandon and Reshmina’s stories unravel, then I would highly suggest purchasing and reading this amazing piece of literature.

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.