The Crash of United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001

The book was written for elementary school readers and tells a straightforward tale about people doing heroic deeds. In this case, the passengers in a hijacked plane decide to over power suicidal Muslim terrorists. By doing so, the passengers saved the White House or Capital, and all the people who might have been in the building had the plane crashed into it. After introducing the reader to the situation, the next several chapters try to explain the motivations of the murderous hijackers. There are general comments about Islam, Al Qaeda, and jihad. The book concludes Islam is a religion of peace, jihad is a personal struggle, and Al Qaeda misinterprets the Koran. There is also an introduction to the captured 5th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui, who would have been on the plane had he not been arrested. There is a brief discussion of Moussaoui's planned role, and the possibility that a 5 man hijacking team could have held off the passengers until the plane crashed in Washington DC. The story is told without any fictionalized conversation. The style is documentary, with many quotation of actual conversations between passengers and people on the ground.

This is an excellent book, and I would so say even if the author weren't my sister. This book has excellent information, including things I wasn't aware of from what I gathered from the news. It is written so that children will understand, but great for adults, too.