Subway Story

by Julia Sarcone-Roach

Overview

Never was there a subway car who loved her job more than Jessie. From morning to night she carried all sorts of people all sorts of places—to work and school and World's Fairs, over bridges and through tunnels—sometimes she even took a pigeon along for the ride! But as time passed, sleek new silver cars began to take over the tracks, banishing Jessie to an abandoned lot. What will she do with no passengers to carry? And where will she go now that she's no longer welcome on the tracks?

Based on the true story of 1960's-era subway cars that are now being used to create artificial reefs in the Atlantic, this stunningly illustrated second book from Julia Sarcone-Roach is sure to delight scuba diving historians and kids alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375984716
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	10/11/2011
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	AD860L (what's this?)
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

After attending the Rhode Island School of Design, JULIA SARCONE-ROACH made her Knopf picture book debut with The Secret Plan. She is also the creator of animated videos, including Call of the Wild, which was featured in indie film festivals and won several prizes. Like Jessie, Julia is an avid traveler and has many adventures in mind for future picture books.

Editorial Reviews

Sarcone-Roach guides us to Jessie's final destination with energy, style and charm. Only a subway rider (as the author most definitely is) could have imagined this book, and given us such a sustained sense of wonder.
—The New York Times Book Review

Pete Hamill

Jessie is a New York City subway car who loves her job: carrying people (and the occasional Christmas tree or wedding cake) all over the city, accompanying subway musicians with clickety-clacks, zooming through subterranean tunnels. But what will become of Jessie when she’s too old to refurbish and repair? The upbeat answer: Jessie becomes part of an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean, “And now a whole city lives inside her.” Sarcone-Roach (The Secret Plan) so effectively portrays her heroine as an endearing, can-do machine that some readers may find Jessie’s journey to the ocean floor genuinely alarming. Because Jessie has no idea what’s happening to her, the pages that depict her being stripped of parts, loaded onto a boat full of anxious-looking subway cars, and dumped into the spooky depths of the ocean feel a bit like witnessing a mob hit. What’s more, Jessie’s sweet smile and eager eyes disappear once she becomes a reef; by erasing her personality and focusing on the aquatic life that takes up residence on and in Jessie, Sarcone-Roach ends with an obituary rather than a new beginning. Ages 5–9. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review, The Horn Book Magazine
"Sarcone-Roach displays a discipline not always seen in books about the environment; she allows her theme of reuse and recycling to emerge naturally from a fine story and lets readers draw their own conclusions without adding a heavy-handed one of her own."

The New York Times Book Review:
"Sarcone-Roach guides us to Jessie's final destination with energy, style, and charm. Only a subway rider (as the author most definitely is) could have imagined this book, and given us such a sustained sense of wonder."—Pete Hamill

School Library Journal:
"A lovely tribute to the city and its boroughs."

Kirkus Reviews:
"With sprawling landscapes and vast underground tunnels as a backdrop, readers will cheer Jessie's story of revival. Immensely readable and surprisingly touching, this large heft of metal totes a lot of charm."

From the Publisher

Gr 1–3—This story of "Jessie," a subway car built in the early 1960s, was inspired by the author's trip to the New York Transit Museum and is a lovely tribute to the city and its boroughs. Told in a clever biographical format, the story begins with Jessie's "birth" details: weight, length, etc. The shiny, new car takes her responsibilities seriously as she safely carries children to school, adults to work, and friends and family members to visit one another. As the decades pass, Jessie delivers visitors to the 1964 World's Fair in Queens, is covered in graffiti, then painted red, repaired, and refurbished, including air-conditioning to replace outdated fans. Eventually, she is retired and becomes part of an artificial reef in the Atlantic Ocean, where she assumes her new job. The expressive acrylic illustrations set the tone and give the story depth. The features on the front of the subway car are used to make Jessie's eyes, nose, and mouth. An author's note gives details about the history of subway cars around the world. This title will be appreciated by train buffs and those curious about the history of New York City.—Anne Beier, Clifton Public Library, NJ

School Library Journal

Jessie weighs 75,122 pounds and is a beautiful, brand-new subway car.

She was brought to New York in the early 1960s for the World's Fair, and she loves traveling all over the city. She speeds around curves and ducks under rivers. When musicians practice on board, she accompanies them with deep rumbles and toe-tapping clacks. Over the years, there are many changes, but Jessie never forgets her most important job—helping people travel safely. Until one season, sleek, shiny new silver trains start taking over the tracks. A downcast Jessie sits in a dusty yard, poignantly wondering about the people she had carried. "Did they notice she was gone?" Thankfully, her adventure doesn't end there. She is taken to the Atlantic and sunk to become an artificial reef, home to many barnacles, coral and fish. Sarcone-Roach cleverly brings the story full circle: Jessie was once an integral part of a bustling city, and now a whole city lives inside of her. With sprawling landscapes and vast underground tunnels as a backdrop, readers will cheer Jessie's story of revival. The author's acrylics gently anthropomorphize Jessie, giving her headlight-eyes and a winsome smile.

Immensely readable and surprisingly touching, this large heft of metal totes a lot of charm. (author's note, bibliography, further reading) (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews