The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

The illustrations in this book were amazing. I have never seen so many shades of blue in my life. They transform the story, taking us from daylight to the tones of midnight blues and back again into the light blues of morning. It would be fun to go through them and name them fun crayon names with kids. The illustrations are also intriguing because they come from many different perspectives. We see the peoples' views from the ground, looking up hundreds of stories to see a man dancing in the middle of the air, framed by the moonlight. We also see what the man would see, looking down from the tallest of buildings with no net to save him, only the traffic below. Illustrations such as these show us the freedom the man describes feeling when he is in the air; we see that there are literally no boundaries. He is alone in the air, touching nothing but the thin rope between his feet. He has become a bird and we, as readers, have as well.

When I read this book, I was thinking about my trip to New York City. I must have been in fifth or sixth grade at the time. My family went over to Ellis Island and my aunt pointed out the towers when we were on the ferry. "They're called the Twin Towers," I remember Aunt Linda telling me. "But if you look closely, you can tell they're not actually the same size. One is taller than the other." I remembered thinking those two buildings were pretty spectacular. This book definitely had an emotional connection for me. It brought me back to that summer and the innocence with which I had looked at the towers. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought about those towers falling to the ground one day. This book is written from a voice of the same innocence. There is admiration not only for the incredible act performed between the two structures, but for the memory of the buildings themselves.

This book is elegant and adventurous. It was surprising and intriguing. I was amused when the judge sentenced the tightrope walker to performing his talent in the park. It made light of a potentially heavy situation. The book, like the blues meticulously painted throughout, was wistful and delicate and exciting. I loved it.