September 2006 Book Club Selection
Print/braille edition $17.95
Ages 4-9
This book is in both uncontracted and contracted braille.
This lovely, lyrical true story begins like a fairytale:
"Once there were two towers side by side.
They were each a quarter of a mile high...
The tallest buildings in New York City."
In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and drama of Petit's feat.
On an early August morning, Philippe and three friends, posing as construction workers, carried a 440-pound cable and equipment to the top of the south tower, prepared to carry out their clever but dangerous scheme. As Philippe walks, dances, and even rests on the wire, Gerstein captures his subject's incredible determination, profound skill, and sheer joy.
This book does not directly address the attack on the World Trade Center; only one simple sentence toward the end of the book even references the event ("Now the towers are gone."). Instead, with its graceful majesty and mythic overtones, this unique and uplifting book celebrates the larger-than-life individual who dared to entertain the city with his exhilarating feat.
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