Starred Review Pablo's first day at his new school in Manhattan happens to be field-trip day, and after a lesson about the construction of New York's subway system ich Sánchez invitingly illustrates with a collage of maps, historical photos, and warm drawings s class departs via subway for the Empire State Building. But Pablo and his enthusiastic classmate Alicia get separated from the rest of their class and then each other, and they each have to navigate the subway alone. Sánchez's immersive illustrations impressively capture the overwhelming confusion of being lost in a crowded place, using striking angles, panel layouts, and depth of field to layer scenes with crowds of close-set people and buildings. When Pablo and Alicia figure out which trains they need to take, on the other hand, Sánchez uses the iconic orderly MTA system map as a crisp background to clearly illustrate their routes. Extensive back matter goes into even more detail about the construction of the subway and what it's like today and provides some fascinating facts about the Empire State Building. Young readers enamored by the Big Apple will be both delighted by the wealth of information and atmospheric artwork and encouraged by Pablo's and Alicia's successful, if a bit nerve-racking, solo journeys. A Spanish edition, Perdidos en NYC, is also available.

SPIEGELMAN, Nadja . Perdidos en NYC: una aventura en el metro . tr. by Lola Moral. Spanish ed. ISBN 9781935179856 . ea vol: illus. by Sergio Garcia Sanchez. 52p. TOON Graphic . Apr. 2015. Tr. $16.95. Gr 4-7 New York City's quintessential sights and sounds and hustle and bustle are beautifully captured in this exciting graphic novel. Lost in NYC unfolds via multiple adventures. First, there's Pablo, the new kid in school. His smart and resourceful classmate Alicia offers to be his partner on the class field trip to the Empire State Building. The students will be taking the subway there, so before setting off, Mr. Bartle dives into an engrossing history lesson about the Empire State Building and the construction of New York City's subway system. Spiegelman and García Sánchez's set the narrative tone and demonstrate artistic mastery in an opening spread that uses a 3-D-like cartoon effect to illustrate Mr. Bartle and his students sitting atop and inside a map of Manhattan, "dissecting" and going "underground" to explore the subway system beneath. Seamlessly woven into the illustration and text are historical photographs that depict how tunnels and trenches were constructed to build the subway system. The storytelling is kinetic. The text moves along visual lines, following subway platforms that both ascend and descend. This technique is paired with illustrations that evoke the sensations of walking Manhattan's densely crowded and diverse streets. Readers see the stacks of yellow cabs, the buskers singing, the skyscrapers carving corridors of blue sky, and even some famous tags by New York's finest graffiti artists. This a love song to the the city that never sleeps as well as a solid friendship story. Paired with robust, detailed historical notes and an engaging Spanish translation by Moral, this book is sure to be a hit with kids and their adults. VERDICT Recommended for all collections. Lettycia Terrones, California State University, Pollak Library, Fullerton , CA