Smoke at the Pentagon

Told in the voices of young people, a novel in verse about the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Featured in CBCBook’s The Heart Remembers Spring 2026 Showcase

“A powerful, humanistic look at the aftermath of a national tragedy, and an important purchase for modern collections.”—School Library Journal

On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. One hundred and eighty-four innocent people were killed. The event occurred at 9:37 a.m. and was part of a coordinated terrorist attack against the United States involving four hijacked flights.

Author Jacqueline Jules, who was a school librarian in Arlington, Virginia on 9/11, tells the story of that day through a tapestry of poems. These poems tell the stories of young people from all aspects of the Arlington and Pentagon communities and are composites drawn from personal experiences with students and friends residing in Northern Virginia at the time of the attack.

September 11th changed childhoods. Anyone old enough to remember that day will never forget, but today''s children need to be told the story.

Excerpt:

My teacher, Mr. Peters, stops mid-sentence, steps sideways

to lean over the monitor on his desk. His mouth drops open.

He looks like a fish gulping air.

The room stays silent

until he finally speaks

to say something about planes

hitting New York and us.

"The Pentagon is on fire," he says.