Module 3: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

 Book Summary:  Philippe Petit had a tight rope between the twin towers.  Many people watched and the police threatened to arrest him.  He knew as long as he stayed in the air and performed he could not be arrested.  Once he came down and was arrested he was sentenced to perform for children in the park.  There were boys there that pulled and his rope to make him fall. 

My Impressions: The illustrations and the story draw in readers to a very touching story.  The tribute to the twin towers in the clouds is also very beautiful.

Professional Review:  School Library Journal (November 1, 2003)

K-Gr 6-As this story opens, French funambulist Philippe Petit is dancing across a tightrope tied between two trees to the delight of the passersby in Lower Manhattan. Gerstein places him in the middle of a balancing act, framed by the two unfinished World Trade Center towers when the idea hits: "He looked not at the towers, but at the space between them and thought, what a wonderful place to stretch a rope-." On August 7, 1974, Petit and three friends, posing as construction workers, began their evening ascent from the elevators to the remaining stairs with a 440-pound cable and equipment, prepared to carry out their clever but dangerous scheme to secure the wire. The pacing of the narrative is as masterful as the placement and quality of the oil-and-ink paintings. The interplay of a single sentence or view with a sequence of thoughts or panels builds to a riveting climax. A small, framed close-up of Petit's foot on the wire yields to two three-page foldouts of the walk. One captures his progress from above, the other from the perspective of a pedestrian. The vertiginous views paint the New York skyline in twinkling starlight and at breathtaking sunrise. Gerstein captures his subject's incredible determination, profound skill, and sheer joy. The final scene depicts transparent, cloud-filled skyscrapers, a man in their midst. With its graceful majesty and mythic overtones, this unique and uplifting book is at once a portrait of a larger-than-life individual and a memorial to the towers and the lives associated with them.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Uses:  This book could be used to introduce September 11 and/or the history of the World Trade Center.  Students could research when and how the towers were built, how they were used, and what happened on September 11, 2001.

Gerstein, M. (2003). The man who walked between the towers. Brookfield, Connecticut: Roaring Book Press.

Lukehart, W. (2003, November 10). Book Review. [Review of the Book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, by M. Gerstein]. School Library Journal 49 (12), p 46.