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BENEATH THE STREETS OF BOSTON

Name: BENEATH THE STREETS OF BOSTON
Author: Joe McKendry
ISBN: 1-56792-284-8

BUILDING AMERICA’S FIRST SUBWAY

by Joe McKendry ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2005

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A stunning examination of the development of Boston’s subway system—the first in the country—takes readers from 1895 to 1916 and explores the four distinct technological challenges met by the planners of the system as it spread from the city center to the suburbs, and under the harbor. Newspaper and magazine illustrator McKendry uses a variety of means to place readers in the time and to depict the progress of Boston’s first big dig. Maps, details, cross sections and diagrams all combine to illustrate the different challenges met; endpapers decorated with period signs and, most spectacularly, sepia-wash paintings so realistic as to make readers look for photo credits ground the narrative visually. Rather more problematically, faux newspaper pages present complementary articles, flanked by other news of the day, to further contextualize the narrative. That these recreations look real enough to fool readers is no small testament to their craft; however, they are not facsimiles but fabrications for the most part, and without any backmatter whatsoever to parse source from artistic license, they betray readers who seek—and deserve—unambiguously non-fictional accounts. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: June 15, 2005

ISBN: 1-56792-284-8

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Godine

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ONE TIMES SQUARE
by Joe McKendry & illustrated by Joe McKendry

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THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE

by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2024

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.

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Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.

Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)