by Jim DeFede
First published 2021
Jim DeFede tells the story of Gander, Newfoundland, where 38 diverted aircraft landed when American airspace closed on September 11, 2001. The small town of 10,300 suddenly housed nearly 7,000 unexpected guests. DeFede chronicles how local residents responded with immediate hospitality, preparing meals for exhausted travelers who had sat on planes for almost a day during security checks. Striking bus drivers returned to work to shuttle passengers to makeshift shelters in schools and churches. Townspeople donated bedding and personal supplies while a middle school opened its facilities for showers and internet access. The author documents the four-day period when strangers became friends across international lines. DeFede shows how passengers later established scholarship funds for Gander children and donated computers to local schools. This updated edition includes new material about the Broadway musical Come from Away, which dramatized these events. The book demonstrates how ordinary people created extraordinary kindness during America's darkest day.
Genres: biography, history, american, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: community-focused, heartwarming, inspiring, thought-provoking, uplifting
Tropes: community-resilience, found-family, strangers-to-friends
Setting: Gander, Newfoundland, United States
Period: September 11, 2001, 21st century
272 pages · Paperback · William Morrow Paperbacks
Content warnings: death