The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Baskin, Nora Raleigh. Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 28, 2016. Kindle.

In Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin, four very different middle school children learn valuable lessons in hate, patriotism, and the power of standing up for what is right when they meet briefly during the first 9/11 memorial service in New York City. All four children — Naheed, an American Muslim from Columbus, Ohio; Will, a white boy from Shanksville, Pennsylvania; Aimee, a white girl from Los Angeles, California; and Sergio, a black boy who lived in Brooklyn — were directly impacted by the terrorist attacks. Their stories give the reader insight into how these students’ lives changed as a result of the attack on America.

Baskin prefaces her work with a description of how perfect the weather was in New York on the day of the terrorist attacks. She indicates that the beautiful weather was what people seemed to remember the most about that day.

On Sept. 9, the lives of Sergio, Naheed, Aimee, and Will intersected briefly when they were all in the same gate area in Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

On Sept. 10, Sergio skipped school after his father angered him by visiting him and pretending that he wanted to congratulate Sergio on a math award. Instead, his father insisted that if Sergio had won any money, he was legally entitled to part of it. Sergio met Gideon, a fireman, when Sergio jumped the turnstile to ride the subway after his MetroCard did not work. At first, Sergio thought Gideon was no one of any importance because he was just a fireman. However, Sergio was impressed with Gideon’s authority and skills when he tended to an injured man in the subway car. The two became friends when Gideon called on Sergio to help him and took him out for dinner later.

Aimee was starting classes at a new school in Los Angeles, while her mother was at a meeting in New York City. Aimee was already feeling sorry for herself when a girl suggested to Aimee that her parents had moved to Los Angeles to get divorced. Aimee built up a case for the divorce in her head and was so angry with her mother by the time the two finally talked that she did not even tell her mother she loved her when they ended the conversation.

Naheed, a Muslim, was upset because she had unintentionally caused Eliza, a girl in her class, to be teased when Naheed tried to get Eliza to stop asking her questions about her hijab. Naheed already felt self-conscious because she was different from the other students. She was more irritated because Eliza’s questions made her feel even more like an outcast. Naheed realized she had treated Eliza badly and made plans to apologize to her the following day.

Will, a boy whose father died while trying to help a man who had a car wreck on the interstate, was still overcome with grief and anger more than a year after his father’s death. The only thing that interested him was Claire, a girl in his class. However, he felt he had ruined his friendship with her by asking her to go bike riding with him but then wrestling with his boy friends instead of paying attention to her.

On Sept. 11, Aimee has learned from her father that her parents have no plans to divorce. She called her mother to apologize and caught her just as she was leaving her hotel for her meeting at the World Trade Center. When Aimee’s mother realized how upset Aimee was, she decided to stay in the hotel lobby and talk to her daughter instead of being on time for the meeting.

In Brooklyn, Sergio was close enough to the World Trade Center that he could see the ash covered people running away from the wreckage while emergency response workers ran toward the disaster. Sergio prayed that both his grandmother and Gideon were safe.

In Shanksville, Will and Claire both skipped school and happened to meet in a field near their homes. Claire admitted to Will that she liked him and rewarded him with a kiss. Their kiss was interrupted when they heard a jet engine and saw the hijacked airplane flying sideways over them.

In Columbus, Ohio, Naheed felt better when she apologized to Eliza and suggested they sit together at lunch. Still, Naheed was haunted by Eliza’s words to her when Naheed had first approached Eliza that something terrible had happened. School officials finally held an assembly during which they told the students that there had been terrorist attacks in America that morning. When Naheed was waiting to get on the bus, she panicked when she heard another student say that Muslims had been responsible for the attack. She walked to the elementary school to get her little sister. Then, the two of them walked home to avoid any confrontation.

On the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks, all four middle school students and their families visited Ground Zero for the memorial service. Because they were clearly Muslim, Naheed and her family were confronted by an angry white man who insisted they had no business at the service. Aimee heard the man’s angry accusations and wondered why no one was helping the family. The father clearly did not want to fight and was trying to protect his wife and daughters behind him. Suddenly, a white boy (Will) and a black boy (Sergio) stepped between the angry man and the Muslim family. A group of New York firefighters, as well as various other people from the crowd, began to join them, standing up to protect fellow Americans against the man’s hate.