SEPTEMBER ROSES

Among the many memorials to 9/11, this small, spare narrative, spun from a true encounter, stands out for the power of its simple words and images. In a hand-written text paired to simply drawn art that moves from clear, lively color to ashy grays and back, Winter recalls coming upon thousands of fresh roses laid out in the shape of the Twin Towers in New York’s Union Square Park, a few days after the tragedy. She heard that they had been placed there by two stranded commercial florists from South Africa. Recreating the two women’s journey and experiences (and filling in specifics in an afterword), she closes with an artist’s eye view of her own feet standing at the roses’ edge, and a heartbreaking final line. Winter doesn’t shy away from depicting the destruction, but it’s the sense of shock and loss in the aftermath, of shared grief and compassion, that comes through most strongly and makes the tale so inexpressibly moving. (Picture book. 7+)