About the Project

Brookhurst Junior High School will be embarking on a school-wide read of Alan Gratz’s number one New York Times Bestseller book, Ground Zero, in the 2024-25 schoolyear.This novel is told from two perspectives: Brandon, 2001, at the World Trade Center on the day of the 9/11 attacks, and Reshmina, 2019, stuck between the American troops and the Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan. We believe that the “right book can bring a school community together…and help students and teachers strengthen their bonds as a community.” Our community was impacted by the events of 9/11. We are located in West Anaheim, California, about a mile away from Little Arabia with at least five mosques/Islamic learning centers in our immediate neighborhood.We want to address this topic because the students are very curious about the attacks on 9/11 and we are in a unique place to be able to use the assets in our community in a meaningful and engaging way so that students can see that the diversity of our community is a strength. In turn, this will help develop students’ character and compassion. Students will focus on oral histories and local heroes in their final project.