7William Thomas Clark shares the initials with the World Trade Center for a reason: he was born on September 11th, 2001, at 8:46 am, the same time the first plane hit the North Tower. Because of this, he can see the ghosts of those lost on 9/11. Flash forward ten years. The memorial is about to open and William Thomas Clark enters the lives of four people in New York affected by the terrorist attacks in different ways - a retired veteran who lost his daughter to flight United 93, a widow of a first responder, a 911 operator whose first day happened to be her last, and a doctor who finds the body of the woman he loved while working the Triage Center at Ground Zero. In 30 Feet Strong, the question of how a second can send us on a downward spiral that demands our most unshakeable strength to recover is one that several characters tackle. Throughout the novel, William Thomas Clark makes these same characters see that this strength does not have to be a solitary one, it can be found in understanding the connections, often invisible, that are drawn between human beings. It just takes a second to realize that the tragedy, the trials, and the hope that can arise through the courage to move on unites us all.