Customer Reviews

With Their Eyes: September 11th--The View from a High School at Ground Zero

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is not a broad-brush, wasn't-it-awful retelling. It's a very thoughtful, direct, personal contemplation of a very scary day and the weeks that followed. The characters' speeches in the book are the real words of people at the high school -- students and adults who worked there -- who have lives and personalties beyond 9/11. I felt they were all talking to me. The choice of voices and incidents is wonderfully diverse. I keep pushing this book on friends, and we always find different things to discuss.

This one will keep you both riveted and thinking for a long time.

This is absolutely the best book I have seen this year. This nonfiction book really, and I mean really, tells the stories of what it was like to not only go to school their but also to work there. Stuyvesant high school is ranked number one in the country for a reason! These children, especially the ones who haven't been there for long, really got involved and brought out the best in this play which makes such a great book! I was fortunate enough to see this play both days and I was fortunate enough to witness a wonderful performance from all ten actors, and witness the producing and promotion talents of both producers, and a most special direction by both directors! Buy This Book! What's This Called you ask? IT'S WITH THEIR EYES!!!!

This book is amazing. Everyone living in New York on September 11th has their own 9/11 story. . .This book tells students and teachers from Stuy's stories about 9/11 and its aftermath. The book tells the untold stories of the students and teaches.. . .At first I though this book was just going to be 10 different accounts of planes hitting the WTC. . .but it is not that at all. Instead it is personal accouts of how 9/11 touched their lives. I recomend this book to everyone, especially people not from New York who want to comprehend how September 11th affected and changed lives

Never have I been prouder to be a graduate of Stuyvesant High School. On the morning of September 11th, when hijackers were flying the first plane into the WTC, I was shopping in the Cortlandt street Borders. I immediately left the store and sought comfort in my school, making it to the bridge just in time to see the second plane hook around and plow into the tower. I witnessed September 11th with the writers of the book; I was fortunate enough to work with Annie Thoms on my senior production of SING, months after the tragedy. While the stories are much more touching when heard in the people's own words...or at least performed on stage, as they were last year, the book touches you just the same. You don't have to know the ones telling their stories to feel what they did. The children are universal; their pain was all of New York's pain, was all of America's pain. And they have all prevailed since then, which gives the book such a happy ending. I am not a sappy person. I did not cry the day of the attacks. But I cried when I read this book. Even if only because it provides a sense of closure.

(...)I read the whole thing in under an hour. I realize I'm a little biased, but this book is absolutely amazing. A lot of the 9/11 accounts you hear are sappy and formulaic, people talking about how their lives will never be the same, blah blah blah. But these accounts are real and candid. The monologues cover the entire spectrum of Stuy students, faculty and staff. You experience the day and its effects from many perspectives. Though sometimes it reads a little slowly - there's a lot of "like" and "ummm" - you can almost forgive it because you realize that these are real people expressing their thoughts on a very intense day...and sometimes the words don't come so easily. I recommend it to everyone, in particular, adolescents, because they will have the easiest time relating to the stories of the students.

I saw this play-before it was published-at Stuyvesant High School and it was powerfully directed and performed. The book captures the power and effectiveness of the performed play and the intensity of the day. This book is not only for young adults but I highly recomend it for adults as well.

Although Annie Thomas is a brilliant writer, she did not write this book of monologues from Stuyvesant High school, a high school just a few blocks from ground zero. The book was first written as a play, each student that was cast for the play picked a student, or for that matter many students to interview. After taping the interviews the students worked for months to get them exactly right with each um like and not included. Annie and the students are trying to clue in the other 3 billion people in America, how traumatic that experience was, especially for people who were just a few blocks away.
Thomas a high school English teacher had recently become faculty advisor for the high school's theater program. She wanted to find a unique play to do after September 11th. She give not only her recognition of the day's events, but includes many other teachers as well as students recollections as well.
Although the book is an over all good piece of writing, it is very repetitive and hard to get through. Each student, though in their own words basically said the same things. All of the people in the United States understand how traumatic that day and reading the book just makes the reader relive the experience over and over again. The book as many good qualities, but just as many bad. The people that were interviewed are very diversified, you will read recollections from janitors and teachers as well as the students of the school. However, as stated before each student, teacher or janitor says the same thing even if it is in their own words. Since the book is meant to be performed as a play pictures of almost every person interviewed are included. This helps the reader visualize the play as if it were being formed in front of them. Even though it is repetitive With Their Eyes offers a different look at September 11th and how the people that were just blocks away on that faithful day dealt with an experience that hit literally so close to home.

I was fortunate enough to see the original production of With Their Eyes, brought alive by the exquisite producing talents of Ms. L. Long Waldor, and it has stuck with me quite firmly ever since. in a style similar to that of plays such as The Laramie Project, the September 11th terrorist attacks are narrated in this play by Stuyvesant high school students and staff who were witness to them, or to the immediate aftermath of the attacks. the people interviewed are of different nationalities, different social backgrounds, and all had different experiences on September 11th. these monologues are moving and observant and often very funny. this is a beautiful and fascinating piece to read, as well as a wonderful play to perform, particularly in a high school theater. buy this book!

With Their Eyes is an eye-opening docu-drama created by students who saw the events of 9-11 from the windows of their high school. The stories are honest, authentic, and ultimately uplifting.

The monologues provide a wonderful opportunity for actors to delve into the heart and soul of real teens and adults. The message is strong, and the show focuses on my favorite aspect of acting, which is character development. I would be honored to direct a production of this show, but I'm struggling to get a cast together at the moment.

B. Lynn Goodwin
[...]
You Want Me to Do What?

With "with their eyes" Annie Thoms tries to take different people's personal experiences with September 11th and create a compelling, inspirational story. She takes various monologues from students and staff attending Stuyvesant High School (located at ground zero) that witnessed September 11th first hand, all of which describe what the events of that day and the days to come were truly like, and tries to paint a picture of September 11th from a unique point of view. She attempts to manage the monologues in a way that reveals the ways in which people express themselves and does her best to make you truly listen to each individual's personal story.
Annie Thoms is actually an English teacher at Stuyvesant High School, having received her MA in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also an advisor for the school's Theater Community, and after looking through many monologues from both students and staff at the school Thoms selected ten and created and managed the play that was to be performed for the school's Winter Drama. This play later developed into the book "with their eyes".
Thoms truly managed to achieve her goal with "with their eyes". Each monologue was vivid and descriptive, with every individual providing the reader with a unique perspective of the tragic events of September 11th. The book also does a great job of revealing the ways in which people express themselves, with each person's way of communicating being beautifully interpreted into their specific monologue. The order in which the monologues occur also successfully achieves Thoms's main goal by truly making you listen and think about what the speaker is telling you.
Though the monologues do sometimes get slightly repetitive and boring and are probably much more interesting on stage, the book over-all provides wonderful insight and flows very nicely. With "with their eyes" Thoms truly provides a touching, creative story that will change your thoughts about the whole event.