Friday, September 11, 2020

Fact Friday: The Red Bandanna by Tom Rinaldi

Image: Penguin Random House

The Red Bandanna (Young Readers Adaptation) by Tom Rinaldi. 176 p. Penguin Young Readers Group, September, 2017. (Own)

Fact Friday is featuring an older title to acknowledge the 19th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The Red Bandanna (Young Readers Adaptation) by Tom Rinaldi is the biography of Welles Crowther. On September 11, he was working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center when the planes hit below his floor. He never came home. His parents grieved not knowing what happened. Then, his mom read an article where survivors spoke of a man in a red bandanna as their rescuer and Mrs. Crowther knew that was her son, Welles. He always carried a red bandanna in his pocket. It was his emblem ever since receiving one from his dad when he was 8 or 9. He was one of the many heroes of 9/11. 

Mr. Rinaldi produced a short film about Welles Crowther for ESPN, then wrote a biography for adults. This adaptation for young readers is an emotional read; but a beautiful tribute to a young man who made a choice to go back into a burning building to help.

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