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Lost in Nyc: A Subway Adventure: A Subway Adventure
Pablo's first day in a New York City school quickly goes off the rails during a field trip to the Empire State Building. Pablo accidentally gets on the wrong train, but with help from a new friend and from the city itself, he soon is on the fast track to becoming a local. This story - which features maps, archival photos, and fascinating facts - will help readers explore the subway without leaving their seats. It brings all the bustle and beauty of NYC to young readers around the world.
47 pages, Library Binding
First published April 7, 2015
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1486 people want to read
About the author
Nadja Spiegelman
13 books163 followersNadja Spiegelman is the Eisner-award nominated author of the ZIG AND WIKKI graphic series for young children and LOST IN NYC: A SUBWAY ADVENTURE. Her forthcoming memoir, "I'm Supposed to Protect You from All This," will be published by Riverhead Books in August 2016. She currently divides her time between Paris and Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
July 9, 2018
Nice story about the NYC subway stations and getting to the Empire State Building. There is a lot of history of the subway station and lines and other things. I have visited the city and ridden on the subway system so it sparks memories. New York subway system is pretty dingy. I tell you, DC has one of the nicest systems I have been in. It is so clean and open and safe feeling. I took a line out to Prospect park on visit. I remember that one. Still NYC system is amazing.
Interesting that the subway was the focus of the story. I enjoyed the little book and the art was fun. I'm glad I happened upon this.
Interesting that the subway was the focus of the story. I enjoyed the little book and the art was fun. I'm glad I happened upon this.
March 6, 2015
While I’m aware that public transport was invented to meet the very real needs of urban commuters, when you’re the parent of a city child you can be forgiven for taking an entirely different view of things. Simply put: subways were created for the sole purpose of amusing children. How else to explain the fun maps, bright colors, and awe-inspiring bits of machinery? We already knew that kids loved trains. Now put those trains underground. That’s just awesomeness redoubled. Here in New York City a certain level of excitement about subway trains is almost required of our kids. Yet when it comes to books about the subway system, it’s often disappointing. Either it’s too young, too old, or like Count on the Subway by Paul DuBois Jacobs it gives the subway lines the wrong colors. Sure Subway by Christoph Niemann is the gold standard, but what can you offer older metro fans? Lost in NYC by Nadja Spiegelman hits that sweet spot for the 6-10 year old crowd. Visually stunning (to say nothing of its accuracy) with abundant factual information wriggled into every available crevice, you don’t have to be a New Yorker to enjoy this book (though, boy, does it sure help).
When you have a father that moves your family all over the country, it can be easy to disconnect from the places you briefly live. So when Pablo enters Mr. Bartle’s class on the first day of his new school, he rebuffs cheery Alicia’s attempts at friendship. On this particular day the class is taking a field trip to the Empire State Building. Pablo learns about the subway system that will take the class there alongside everyone else, but when he and Alicia are inspecting a map on the subway he’s briefly confused and takes her with him onto the express 2 train and not the local 1. Now separated from their class, the two kids start to fight and next thing you know they have to find their way back to their classmates entirely on their own. Backmatter and a Bibliography of other subway resources appear at the end.
I'm an adult so after reading this story several times you know whom I feel most sorry for? The teacher, Mr. Bartle. Here the man is, taking his class on a routine subway trip, and along the way he loses two of them at the very first stop. A common New Yorker nightmare is the idea that you might lose your child on the subway. Yet in Spiegelman and Sánchez’s hands it’s a nightmare turned into an adventure. It’s the same reason From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler continues to be read. For children, the thought of being independent in a city as vast as NYC is as enticing as it is horrific. Spiegelman does give Pablo a native guide for the first part of his journey, but pretty soon they two are separated and he has to make his way on his own to his group. This is by no means an interactive book, but I had to withhold a scream when Pablo jumped the 7 train at 42nd Street. He’s lucky he asked for traveling advice as early as he did, else he would have ended up in far distant Queens relatively quickly.
Spiegelman’s writing holds up for the most part. It’s a slim story, clocking in at a mere 52 pages which is only slightly more than your average picture book. Some of that is rounded out with the backmatter too. Filled with history and brimming with photographs, engravings, and other stunning images, Spiegelman outdoes herself with the information found there. For certain subway buffs, the info included (with sections like “Why Are There No H, I, K, O, P, T, U, V, W, X, or Y Trains?”) will be particularly pleasing. However, when we look at the story in this book by itself, it does come to a rather abrupt halt. Pablo spends the greater part of the story declaring that he doesn’t need friends. He parts from Alicia on angry terms, yet when the two are reunited they act like the best buddies in the world. I wasn’t quite sure where the switchover on this relationship occurred. Otherwise, everything seems pretty certain and consistent.
Not all subway books are created equal. I remember years ago encountering a NY subway picture book where a normally elevated stop was pictured in the book as underground. Certainly the cover of this book gave me hope. It seemed to be acknowledging from the get-go that the 1 and 2 trains both stop at 96th, 72nd, and 42nd Street (we will ignore the peculiar inclusion of a “33” since we can assume artist Sergio Garcia Sánchez meant 34th Street). As it happens, Mr. Sánchez is a resident not of one of the five boroughs but of Spain. You wouldn’t know it. The New York found within these pages feels so real and so contemporary that I have difficulty understanding that I’m not going to run into the man on the street when I leave for work tomorrow morning. Artists could learn a thing or two from his attention to detail. From the color of the painted columns to the diversity of the city streets, this is indeed the New York I know and love.
The design of Lost in NYC is also a delight to the eyes. Good graphic novels for children are rare beasties. Half the time you’re left wondering if the editors or artists ever took the time to look outside the standard panel format. If Mr. Sánchez feels inclined to use panels in this book, you can bet it’s a strategic decision. The very first page is almost entirely open, only settling into panels when the kids are approaching the rigid format of a school setting. As the teacher, Mr. Bartle, begins to introduce subway history, we see the characters on a massive topographic map. It’s a visual approximation of the cut-and-cover technique used to create subways in a city chock full of hardened bedrock. Once the kids go underground the panels shift to full two-page spreads, and lots of individual vertical panels like the cars on a subway train. When called upon to render the city blocks in such a way where you can see the characters all converge on the Empire State Building from different directions, the artist either shrinks the buildings and blows up the characters, or he overlaps a subway map onto a street map and you can see the kids meet up that way. Then there are the perspective shifts. The view up into the Empire State Building, a wall or two cut away so that you can get a visual sense of some of the seventy-three elevators in the building, is dizzying. I can say with certainty that even if a child were incapable of reading English (or Spanish, since this book is being simultaneously translated) they would still be able to be moved and stirred by this story.
He’s also filled the book with inside jokes. I was so pleased that I took time to read the “Behind the Scenes: Sergio and the Cop” section at the back of the book. In it, Sergio describes a time he visited NYC and was photographing all the details at the 96th Street subway stop when a cop started paying a little too much attention to him. As a result, if you look in the book you can find Sergio and the cop on “virtually every spread.” Once you see it, it cannot be unseen. It also creates a kind of touching secondary story as the two go from antagonists to, finally, taking a selfie together.
Accuracy in illustration, even (or should I say especially?) in fictional stories, is imperative. You have to make the reader inhabit the setting presented, and the best way to accomplish this is through rigorous research and skill. Mr. Sánchez has both and by pairing with Nadja Spiegelman he may well earn himself an Honorary New Yorker decree. Though filled to its gills with accurate Manhattan details, you don’t have to live anywhere in the five boroughs to recognize the fear that comes with having to navigate an unfamiliar public transit system. Particularly if you’re just a kid. An adventure tale wrapped around a nonfiction core of subways subways subways. What’s not to love?
For ages 6-10.
When you have a father that moves your family all over the country, it can be easy to disconnect from the places you briefly live. So when Pablo enters Mr. Bartle’s class on the first day of his new school, he rebuffs cheery Alicia’s attempts at friendship. On this particular day the class is taking a field trip to the Empire State Building. Pablo learns about the subway system that will take the class there alongside everyone else, but when he and Alicia are inspecting a map on the subway he’s briefly confused and takes her with him onto the express 2 train and not the local 1. Now separated from their class, the two kids start to fight and next thing you know they have to find their way back to their classmates entirely on their own. Backmatter and a Bibliography of other subway resources appear at the end.
I'm an adult so after reading this story several times you know whom I feel most sorry for? The teacher, Mr. Bartle. Here the man is, taking his class on a routine subway trip, and along the way he loses two of them at the very first stop. A common New Yorker nightmare is the idea that you might lose your child on the subway. Yet in Spiegelman and Sánchez’s hands it’s a nightmare turned into an adventure. It’s the same reason From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler continues to be read. For children, the thought of being independent in a city as vast as NYC is as enticing as it is horrific. Spiegelman does give Pablo a native guide for the first part of his journey, but pretty soon they two are separated and he has to make his way on his own to his group. This is by no means an interactive book, but I had to withhold a scream when Pablo jumped the 7 train at 42nd Street. He’s lucky he asked for traveling advice as early as he did, else he would have ended up in far distant Queens relatively quickly.
Spiegelman’s writing holds up for the most part. It’s a slim story, clocking in at a mere 52 pages which is only slightly more than your average picture book. Some of that is rounded out with the backmatter too. Filled with history and brimming with photographs, engravings, and other stunning images, Spiegelman outdoes herself with the information found there. For certain subway buffs, the info included (with sections like “Why Are There No H, I, K, O, P, T, U, V, W, X, or Y Trains?”) will be particularly pleasing. However, when we look at the story in this book by itself, it does come to a rather abrupt halt. Pablo spends the greater part of the story declaring that he doesn’t need friends. He parts from Alicia on angry terms, yet when the two are reunited they act like the best buddies in the world. I wasn’t quite sure where the switchover on this relationship occurred. Otherwise, everything seems pretty certain and consistent.
Not all subway books are created equal. I remember years ago encountering a NY subway picture book where a normally elevated stop was pictured in the book as underground. Certainly the cover of this book gave me hope. It seemed to be acknowledging from the get-go that the 1 and 2 trains both stop at 96th, 72nd, and 42nd Street (we will ignore the peculiar inclusion of a “33” since we can assume artist Sergio Garcia Sánchez meant 34th Street). As it happens, Mr. Sánchez is a resident not of one of the five boroughs but of Spain. You wouldn’t know it. The New York found within these pages feels so real and so contemporary that I have difficulty understanding that I’m not going to run into the man on the street when I leave for work tomorrow morning. Artists could learn a thing or two from his attention to detail. From the color of the painted columns to the diversity of the city streets, this is indeed the New York I know and love.
The design of Lost in NYC is also a delight to the eyes. Good graphic novels for children are rare beasties. Half the time you’re left wondering if the editors or artists ever took the time to look outside the standard panel format. If Mr. Sánchez feels inclined to use panels in this book, you can bet it’s a strategic decision. The very first page is almost entirely open, only settling into panels when the kids are approaching the rigid format of a school setting. As the teacher, Mr. Bartle, begins to introduce subway history, we see the characters on a massive topographic map. It’s a visual approximation of the cut-and-cover technique used to create subways in a city chock full of hardened bedrock. Once the kids go underground the panels shift to full two-page spreads, and lots of individual vertical panels like the cars on a subway train. When called upon to render the city blocks in such a way where you can see the characters all converge on the Empire State Building from different directions, the artist either shrinks the buildings and blows up the characters, or he overlaps a subway map onto a street map and you can see the kids meet up that way. Then there are the perspective shifts. The view up into the Empire State Building, a wall or two cut away so that you can get a visual sense of some of the seventy-three elevators in the building, is dizzying. I can say with certainty that even if a child were incapable of reading English (or Spanish, since this book is being simultaneously translated) they would still be able to be moved and stirred by this story.
He’s also filled the book with inside jokes. I was so pleased that I took time to read the “Behind the Scenes: Sergio and the Cop” section at the back of the book. In it, Sergio describes a time he visited NYC and was photographing all the details at the 96th Street subway stop when a cop started paying a little too much attention to him. As a result, if you look in the book you can find Sergio and the cop on “virtually every spread.” Once you see it, it cannot be unseen. It also creates a kind of touching secondary story as the two go from antagonists to, finally, taking a selfie together.
Accuracy in illustration, even (or should I say especially?) in fictional stories, is imperative. You have to make the reader inhabit the setting presented, and the best way to accomplish this is through rigorous research and skill. Mr. Sánchez has both and by pairing with Nadja Spiegelman he may well earn himself an Honorary New Yorker decree. Though filled to its gills with accurate Manhattan details, you don’t have to live anywhere in the five boroughs to recognize the fear that comes with having to navigate an unfamiliar public transit system. Particularly if you’re just a kid. An adventure tale wrapped around a nonfiction core of subways subways subways. What’s not to love?
For ages 6-10.
December 21, 2022
A fun little romp through the New York City subway system. What a massive undertaking -- to build and navigate. I only wish the rest of our country had such a commitment to public transit.
June 17, 2016
I read this not too long after it came out. I wasn't blown away but there were a couple of really clever frames. The Secret Science Alliance had a similar vibe, but I was a lot more impressed with that book.
June 1, 2015
I guess because I am a born and raised New Yorker, I love to read books that take place in NYC, so I was pretty excited to see a book called Lost in NYC, A Subway Adventure. The premise is simple enough - new kid to the city Pablo isn't very happy about his family's latest move to NYC's Upper West Side and has a real unfriendly, resentful attitude. His first day of school also happens to be the day his new class is traveling by subway to the Empire State Building and, as with all class trips, he is assigned a partner named Alicia.
Her helpfulness and his indifference help get the two separated from the class and a subway adventure begins as Alicia and Pablo try to reconnect with the rest of the class. But then Pablo gets separated from Alicia and he finds himself lost and alone in NYC, in fact the loneliest he has ever felt. Will he ever find the rest of his class and will they still be as friendly as when he first met them, especially Alicia?
Along with Pablo's subway adventure to the Empire State Building, there is a lot of information including a brief history of the former world's tallest building and how the subway was build. NYC is in the midst of building a Second Avenue subway, which is an underground train and, since Manhattan is all hard shale rock, there was blasting and drilling for way too long. But it was interesting to find out about all it is all done.
Lost in NYC is a great book newcomers to the city like Pablo and his family, and for anyone who wants to visit but feels intimated by the subway system. The text does a wonderful job of showing how crowded and busy the trains are and Spiegelman and Sánchez been true to the different trains lines, explaining the difference between local and express, platforms where you can change from one train to the other.
And I love that they used the actual subway map as their background, not just for the inside front and back cover, but they incorporated it into the story. And many of the images give a great, realistic overview of different parts of the subway as they relate to the story.
This colorful graphic novel gives a wonderful perspective of the story that should appeal to young readers whether they live in NYC or not. Sánchez drew the graphics in orange pencil and ballpoint pen, and they were digitally colored by Lola Moral. The muted colors used are a perfect counterpoint to the bright colored lines that indicate the subway routes Pablo encounters on his subway odyssey.
Be sure to look at the back matter, that includes information about the authors, the beginnings of it all, including subway construction, and a bit more history about the Empire State Building Lost in NYC is a delightful graphic story about adjusting to new surroundings, a new school and making new friends, not always an easy task for young kids.
New York City kids learn how to ride the subway at a young age . I was pretty young when I went on my first solo ride, going from Brooklyn to Manhattan to visit my dad at work in the Museum of Natural History, and my Kiddo rode the subway every day to school when she was at Bard High School Early College. But I can understand how people could be intimated by the NYC subway, after all there are 488 stations servicing two lines that have a total of 22 subway routes - 7 numbered and 15 lettered routes. But if you come to NYC, get yourself a metro card, a subway map and if you really get lost, any New Yorker will be more than happy to help you find your way.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
Her helpfulness and his indifference help get the two separated from the class and a subway adventure begins as Alicia and Pablo try to reconnect with the rest of the class. But then Pablo gets separated from Alicia and he finds himself lost and alone in NYC, in fact the loneliest he has ever felt. Will he ever find the rest of his class and will they still be as friendly as when he first met them, especially Alicia?
Along with Pablo's subway adventure to the Empire State Building, there is a lot of information including a brief history of the former world's tallest building and how the subway was build. NYC is in the midst of building a Second Avenue subway, which is an underground train and, since Manhattan is all hard shale rock, there was blasting and drilling for way too long. But it was interesting to find out about all it is all done.
Lost in NYC is a great book newcomers to the city like Pablo and his family, and for anyone who wants to visit but feels intimated by the subway system. The text does a wonderful job of showing how crowded and busy the trains are and Spiegelman and Sánchez been true to the different trains lines, explaining the difference between local and express, platforms where you can change from one train to the other.
And I love that they used the actual subway map as their background, not just for the inside front and back cover, but they incorporated it into the story. And many of the images give a great, realistic overview of different parts of the subway as they relate to the story.
This colorful graphic novel gives a wonderful perspective of the story that should appeal to young readers whether they live in NYC or not. Sánchez drew the graphics in orange pencil and ballpoint pen, and they were digitally colored by Lola Moral. The muted colors used are a perfect counterpoint to the bright colored lines that indicate the subway routes Pablo encounters on his subway odyssey.
Be sure to look at the back matter, that includes information about the authors, the beginnings of it all, including subway construction, and a bit more history about the Empire State Building Lost in NYC is a delightful graphic story about adjusting to new surroundings, a new school and making new friends, not always an easy task for young kids.
New York City kids learn how to ride the subway at a young age . I was pretty young when I went on my first solo ride, going from Brooklyn to Manhattan to visit my dad at work in the Museum of Natural History, and my Kiddo rode the subway every day to school when she was at Bard High School Early College. But I can understand how people could be intimated by the NYC subway, after all there are 488 stations servicing two lines that have a total of 22 subway routes - 7 numbered and 15 lettered routes. But if you come to NYC, get yourself a metro card, a subway map and if you really get lost, any New Yorker will be more than happy to help you find your way.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
April 27, 2015
Part history of the New York subway system, part new kid in a big city, part seek and find, part friendship story, this book has it all. Pablo begins yet another new school and is paired up with Alicia on the class field trip to the Empire State Building. Alicia is very welcoming, but Pablo has his defenses up because he's afraid that making a friend at this new school will make it difficult when his family moves again (which he believes they will).
The pair becomes separated and must use their street smarts to make it to the Empire State Building to meet up with their class. What follows is a fabulous tour of the city and a happy ending.
Back matter includes info regarding how the authors approached this book, including a cool seek and find aspect detailing the artist's own experience visiting the city, a history of the subway system complete with photos and drawings, and a look at a current subway project in the works.
Highly recommended read for grades 3-5.
The pair becomes separated and must use their street smarts to make it to the Empire State Building to meet up with their class. What follows is a fabulous tour of the city and a happy ending.
Back matter includes info regarding how the authors approached this book, including a cool seek and find aspect detailing the artist's own experience visiting the city, a history of the subway system complete with photos and drawings, and a look at a current subway project in the works.
Highly recommended read for grades 3-5.
May 5, 2015
I am buying this book for my whole family. I am possibly flying to Spain to get the artists to sign it. I am certainly bringing it with me to Book Expo at the end of the month to get the author to sign it. I may show up at her apartment. Sorry in advance, Nadja Spiegelman. You don't know me but I am not dangerous.
I am, however a giant fan of the New York subway. When I moved to New York in 1994, I was so intimidated by the train I could have cried. And when I quickly discovered that not only is it easy to figure out, but people are extremely kind when you ask for help, I could have cried again. Most New Yorkers are to some extent subway nerds - they have opinions on the art that appears in the stations, the new design of the map (it'll always be the new map to some people), and which stations are best to switch at. I love subway conversations - the subway is the common denominator for all New Yorkers. Not every city has one.
And the art. Is the coolest. Wow.
I am, however a giant fan of the New York subway. When I moved to New York in 1994, I was so intimidated by the train I could have cried. And when I quickly discovered that not only is it easy to figure out, but people are extremely kind when you ask for help, I could have cried again. Most New Yorkers are to some extent subway nerds - they have opinions on the art that appears in the stations, the new design of the map (it'll always be the new map to some people), and which stations are best to switch at. I love subway conversations - the subway is the common denominator for all New Yorkers. Not every city has one.
And the art. Is the coolest. Wow.
January 5, 2017
I found this book really recently for a dollar at my local library. I decided to buy it because I'm a sucker for little graphic novels (especially ones set in New York City!). This tells the story about Pablo, a new student, who goes on a field trip to the Empire State Building with his new friend Alicia.
This book wasn't a bestseller or anything, but for the story that was provided in it about the city (with its facts and essentially celebrating New York) and dealing with constant changes in one's life (told through Pablo's experiences), I quite liked it. It was cute and silly and for the actual intended audience of middle schoolers, it would teach them a lot about different things in New York City (specifically the subway and the Empire State Building). I also liked the little bonus story about the artist and the cop. It was fun to go through the book and find them like in "Where's Waldo?".
This book wasn't a bestseller or anything, but for the story that was provided in it about the city (with its facts and essentially celebrating New York) and dealing with constant changes in one's life (told through Pablo's experiences), I quite liked it. It was cute and silly and for the actual intended audience of middle schoolers, it would teach them a lot about different things in New York City (specifically the subway and the Empire State Building). I also liked the little bonus story about the artist and the cop. It was fun to go through the book and find them like in "Where's Waldo?".
June 1, 2017
I really loved the illustrations in this book. The crowded subway platforms, the teeming city streets, and the fascinating cutaways of the subway system really bring New York City to life. The story, which focuses on a child who has just moved to New York, provides an easy to follow exploration of the New York City subway system. This is a great read for kids who are interested in trains.
January 10, 2023
Cute! The art is cute and detailed. Anyone familiar with NYC will recognize at least some places. The story is not nearly as detailed, but probably fine for kids.
January 4, 2016
This is a fascinating look at the New York City Subway system, as told from students, Alicia (a long-time resident of the city) and Pablo (someone who's just moved to the city). This somewhat intimidating mode of travel is a necessity for millions of New Yorker's who use this to move about the city on a daily basis.
On the end paper at the beginning of the book is a detailed map of the subway system. The end paper at the end shows a detailed map of the city and where the characters were throughout.
At the end of the book is a brief history of the New York Subways, including names of the trains and why certain letters do not exist, in the names of the trains.
On the last page of the book, we learn that this is a "Toon Graphics" novel. This type of story is a graphic novel where the text and pictures are both created / produced by the authors. When the authors are also the artists, they can more effectively convey their creative vision with both pictures and words. This is a great tool for visual learners, like me. After reading this once, I went back and looked at everything, again. I picked up even more information, the second time around. Hint: Look at the pictures -- there are sometime pictures within pictures.
Excellent!
On the end paper at the beginning of the book is a detailed map of the subway system. The end paper at the end shows a detailed map of the city and where the characters were throughout.
At the end of the book is a brief history of the New York Subways, including names of the trains and why certain letters do not exist, in the names of the trains.
On the last page of the book, we learn that this is a "Toon Graphics" novel. This type of story is a graphic novel where the text and pictures are both created / produced by the authors. When the authors are also the artists, they can more effectively convey their creative vision with both pictures and words. This is a great tool for visual learners, like me. After reading this once, I went back and looked at everything, again. I picked up even more information, the second time around. Hint: Look at the pictures -- there are sometime pictures within pictures.
Excellent!
May 1, 2016
Wonderful.
A decent story about friendship within a book that's a love-note and explanation of NYC, the Empire State Building, and the Subway system. The well-done illustrations deserves all sorts of superlatives. They clearly inform, show movement and city life, and are fun to look at. The sort of pages that make you go slow and think at the close--let's reread that!
Visually one of the best kid graphic novels I've seen. Highly recommended.
A decent story about friendship within a book that's a love-note and explanation of NYC, the Empire State Building, and the Subway system. The well-done illustrations deserves all sorts of superlatives. They clearly inform, show movement and city life, and are fun to look at. The sort of pages that make you go slow and think at the close--let's reread that!
Visually one of the best kid graphic novels I've seen. Highly recommended.
April 10, 2017
really enjoyed this graphic novel - aimed at older elementary, but works for middle school or interested adults as well. Loved the facts!
February 10, 2018
Nice story; great vehicle for lots of information. End notes were terrific; I just wish more of them ended up in the main text somehow.
March 9, 2020
Pablo and his family have just moved to New York City. His first day at his new school, he discovers the class has a field trip planned on the subway to the Empire State Building. Although he is paired up with a buddy, Alicia, they get a bit lost when they accidentally get on the wrong train!
This is a graphic novel and it was very good. There is history of the subway and the Empire State Building, along with real historical photos included. I’ve only been to New York once (and I was on the subway, but found it pretty confusing!), but found the information really interesting. The story itself was also about friendship, but really I think the point was the historical information (geared toward younger readers, but still really interesting).
This is a graphic novel and it was very good. There is history of the subway and the Empire State Building, along with real historical photos included. I’ve only been to New York once (and I was on the subway, but found it pretty confusing!), but found the information really interesting. The story itself was also about friendship, but really I think the point was the historical information (geared toward younger readers, but still really interesting).
December 22, 2022
The title is a bit misleading - only one person is actually "lost" and only for about five minutes - but this is still a fun and educational little book. There is a short, sweet story about a new kid in a New York City school going on a field trip to the Empire State Building on his very first day. The story itself is full of information about the subway, both history and how to get around on it, and the Empire State Building, and there is also an afterword with more detailed information on both. There is even a bonus activity from the About the Creators page where you can search through the pictures for the illustrator and a curious cop.
December 15, 2018
Interesting, cleverly-drawn book. I learned a lot about the subway system in New York. Teachers, beware. When the kids get separated from their class field trip, I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack. 😬😬😬 That is one of my worst nightmares!
July 8, 2020
A NYC class of students takes a field trip to the Empire State Building. The story is interesting and slightly suspenseful as two of the students get separated from the class. The illustrations in this graphic picture book are extremely detailed. The illustrator even included in the illustrations depictions of himself taking pictures with his phone while being shadowed by a NY cop.
April 4, 2022
Nice story about getting lost and feeling like you don't belong somewhere, loved the images they represented NYC very well with the colorful diversity and the intimidation of so many people trying to get somewhere, fast.
August 22, 2022
Read the English version and it was my first Toon graphic novel! It was a quick read through but upon taking a closer dive, you can see the intentional placements of ppl, time, word choice, etc. from the author and artist. Spectacular way of learning about the tube and culture in New York.
October 16, 2019
A fascinating history of New York City's subway is interspersed with the story of new kid at school, Pablo, who is not having a good day. Perfect for the train-obsessed -- and the Manhattan-obsessed. The illustrations of the subway are particularly well-done.
November 24, 2018
I have read some graphic texts before, but not since I was a young child. The format impacted my experience with the text by guiding me through it with the pictures. The common rule of reading from top to bottom and left to right does not always apply here as sometimes the text follows an element of the picture instead. These pages took me a second to figure out, and I would be worried about a low-level student not understanding this. Through this book has some non-fiction elements about the subway, I wasn't really inspired to learn any more about them. The characters in the book could be relatable to some students, though I don't feel like the text is long enough for those relationships to occur. Personally, I thought that this was a more difficult format to read, though I do see the benefits for use in the classroom especially with students who do not like to read or who struggle.
January 26, 2024
Para los amantes de la ciudad de Nueva York, este cómic será un tesoro. Y lo será especialmente si, como yo, os encantan la arquitectura y las grandes construcciones urbanas.
En esta historia acompañamos a Pablo, un niño de primaria que tras varias mudanzas acaba de llegar a la gran manzana. Viajaremos por primera vez con él en metro desde su nuevo colegio hasta el edificio más famoso de Manhattan: el Empire State Building. A lo largo de este viaje, Pablo y su nueva amiga Alicia se perderán y reencontrarán a lo largo de los túneles que agujerean toda la ciudad.
Me ha gustado mucho como la autora aprovecha esta historia para contarnos cómo se iniciaron tanto los proyectos de construcción tanto del metro como del Empire State Building. Da datos sencillos y muy bien integrados con la narración general, haciendo que sea más fácil retener los conceptos.
Finalmente, me gustaría remarcar que al final hay varias páginas de texto, ilustraciones, imágenes y bibliografía relacionadas con ambos temas. Estas páginas en particular me han parecido muy interesantes y han despertado mi curiosidad.
Se nota que es una historia hecha con mucho mimo y amor a esta ciudad.
En esta historia acompañamos a Pablo, un niño de primaria que tras varias mudanzas acaba de llegar a la gran manzana. Viajaremos por primera vez con él en metro desde su nuevo colegio hasta el edificio más famoso de Manhattan: el Empire State Building. A lo largo de este viaje, Pablo y su nueva amiga Alicia se perderán y reencontrarán a lo largo de los túneles que agujerean toda la ciudad.
Me ha gustado mucho como la autora aprovecha esta historia para contarnos cómo se iniciaron tanto los proyectos de construcción tanto del metro como del Empire State Building. Da datos sencillos y muy bien integrados con la narración general, haciendo que sea más fácil retener los conceptos.
Finalmente, me gustaría remarcar que al final hay varias páginas de texto, ilustraciones, imágenes y bibliografía relacionadas con ambos temas. Estas páginas en particular me han parecido muy interesantes y han despertado mi curiosidad.
Se nota que es una historia hecha con mucho mimo y amor a esta ciudad.
June 27, 2015
“Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure” is a delightful 48-page hardcover picture book for roughly sixth-graders, whether they live in New York City or not. Alicia is a friendly, eager student in NYC whose class is going on a field trip to the Empire State Building by subway. Its goal is partly to teach New York’s children about the city’s subway system. Pablo is a Hispanic boy who has just transferred to Alicia’s school. Dialogue between Pablo and his parents establishes that he’s new to NYC; his father gets new jobs around America often; this is Pablo’ sixth new school recently, and that he is nervous and resentful of being uprooted so often. He enters Alicia’s class just in time for the field trip, and their teacher, Mr. Bartle, partners the two. Naturally the two become separated from the rest of the class. Alicia, a veteran New Yorker, is familiar with NYC’s complex subway system. But Pablo, who resists being looked after by a girl his own age, insists he can look after himself and runs off, to quickly become lost. Alicia, who feels responsible for him, goes after him.
“Lost in NYC”, written by Nadja Spiegelman and drawn by Sergio García Sánchez, is a marvel of crowded-yet-clear pictorial storytelling. The first few pages are in a traditional multi-panel comic-book format, but once the class enters NYC’s bustling subway system, each page becomes a huge single panel, often multilevel showing both the busy NYC streets above and the subways below. Some scenes are one double-page spread. It is superficially tremendously crowded, but with the central characters and story placed so the reader sees them first and the story is easy to follow. The reader is also visually invited to study each scene in detail, to see all that is going on in the background. A running gag is a man who is always taking pictures with a handheld camera, and a transit policeman following him. An afterword tells how this book was based on artist García Sánchez’s (a Spanish and French professor of comic-art) first visit to NYC. He began the book by taking dozens of reference photos of the city’s subway system, drawing the attention of a suspicious policeman who followed him everywhere.
The story is followed by a 5-page visual history of NYC’s subway from 1867 to the present. The authors make it both feel like home to NYC readers, and exotically fascinating to outsiders. This book is recommended to readers of all ages; both New Yorkers and readers in the rest of North America.
I can’t resist calling attention to a private chuckle that it gave me. Mr. Bartle, the teacher, asks his students what their favorite subway lines are. “What are YOUR favorite trains?” ‘The Q train because it goes over a bridge!” “The 4 because I love the color green!” “The 1 because it goes straight to my house.” The other students shout out the G, L, N, R, 6, and other trains. Pablo, trying to join in, says the X train and is laughed at. “HA HA HA!! There IS no X train!” As a fan of Japanese anime, I’ve enjoyed “Take the X Train”, a funny but spooky 1987 50-minute animated film about a ghost train, directed by Rin Taro; recommended for adults but not safe for children.
“Lost in NYC”, written by Nadja Spiegelman and drawn by Sergio García Sánchez, is a marvel of crowded-yet-clear pictorial storytelling. The first few pages are in a traditional multi-panel comic-book format, but once the class enters NYC’s bustling subway system, each page becomes a huge single panel, often multilevel showing both the busy NYC streets above and the subways below. Some scenes are one double-page spread. It is superficially tremendously crowded, but with the central characters and story placed so the reader sees them first and the story is easy to follow. The reader is also visually invited to study each scene in detail, to see all that is going on in the background. A running gag is a man who is always taking pictures with a handheld camera, and a transit policeman following him. An afterword tells how this book was based on artist García Sánchez’s (a Spanish and French professor of comic-art) first visit to NYC. He began the book by taking dozens of reference photos of the city’s subway system, drawing the attention of a suspicious policeman who followed him everywhere.
The story is followed by a 5-page visual history of NYC’s subway from 1867 to the present. The authors make it both feel like home to NYC readers, and exotically fascinating to outsiders. This book is recommended to readers of all ages; both New Yorkers and readers in the rest of North America.
I can’t resist calling attention to a private chuckle that it gave me. Mr. Bartle, the teacher, asks his students what their favorite subway lines are. “What are YOUR favorite trains?” ‘The Q train because it goes over a bridge!” “The 4 because I love the color green!” “The 1 because it goes straight to my house.” The other students shout out the G, L, N, R, 6, and other trains. Pablo, trying to join in, says the X train and is laughed at. “HA HA HA!! There IS no X train!” As a fan of Japanese anime, I’ve enjoyed “Take the X Train”, a funny but spooky 1987 50-minute animated film about a ghost train, directed by Rin Taro; recommended for adults but not safe for children.
June 17, 2018
Captures the hassle and bustle of traveling in the big city of New York and educating/delight for kids to read + learn about the subway way system.
February 27, 2017
Copyright: 2015
Genre: I would classify this graphic novel as Fiction. Under the umbrella of Fiction I would classify this as Realistic Fiction. This story would be realistic for kids growing up in larger cities that have public transportation systems like the subway in New York City. For children who are not growing up in these sorts of cities the story can still be realistic because they can still be separated from parents or other trusted adults.
Target Audience: I would likely use this graphic novel for kids at the intermediate level (3-6) because the topics of this story are pretty advanced. While I believe it is important for younger children to learn about what to do if separated from trusted adults, this graphic novel in particular would be too difficult for them to read and comprehend.
Connections:
*Text to Self: I can connect with the topic of this story because I was once separated from my class during a field trip. In 3rd grade my class traveled to the zoo for a class field trip. In the middle of a crowd I was separated from my class and began to panic. I believe if teachers read this book to their class before going on a big trip, and then discussed what students should do if they do somehow get separated, it would be very beneficial. I know I would have appreciated it.
*Text to Text: Growing up, my mom would always read my brother and I stories about realistic situations and what to do if we ever found ourselves in one. The story that came to mind when I found this graphic novel was "The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers" by Jan Berenstein. In this book, the cubs are learning about situations in which it is and is not okay to talk to and trust strangers. Papa Bear spends the entire book teaching the cubs about strangers. I feel as though these two texts would connect to each other because they could both be used when teaching the topic of stranger danger to elementary aged kids.
*Text to World: I would connect this book to the public transportation system, and the dangers that go along with them, that can be found all over the country. Some kids, especially those here in Nebraska, might not be aware of the advanced public transportation systems that are all over the country. This book would be a great opportunity to discuss these transportation systems with students and give them basic skills that could help them maneuver through the systems if they ever found themselves in situations which that would be necessary.
Genre: I would classify this graphic novel as Fiction. Under the umbrella of Fiction I would classify this as Realistic Fiction. This story would be realistic for kids growing up in larger cities that have public transportation systems like the subway in New York City. For children who are not growing up in these sorts of cities the story can still be realistic because they can still be separated from parents or other trusted adults.
Target Audience: I would likely use this graphic novel for kids at the intermediate level (3-6) because the topics of this story are pretty advanced. While I believe it is important for younger children to learn about what to do if separated from trusted adults, this graphic novel in particular would be too difficult for them to read and comprehend.
Connections:
*Text to Self: I can connect with the topic of this story because I was once separated from my class during a field trip. In 3rd grade my class traveled to the zoo for a class field trip. In the middle of a crowd I was separated from my class and began to panic. I believe if teachers read this book to their class before going on a big trip, and then discussed what students should do if they do somehow get separated, it would be very beneficial. I know I would have appreciated it.
*Text to Text: Growing up, my mom would always read my brother and I stories about realistic situations and what to do if we ever found ourselves in one. The story that came to mind when I found this graphic novel was "The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers" by Jan Berenstein. In this book, the cubs are learning about situations in which it is and is not okay to talk to and trust strangers. Papa Bear spends the entire book teaching the cubs about strangers. I feel as though these two texts would connect to each other because they could both be used when teaching the topic of stranger danger to elementary aged kids.
*Text to World: I would connect this book to the public transportation system, and the dangers that go along with them, that can be found all over the country. Some kids, especially those here in Nebraska, might not be aware of the advanced public transportation systems that are all over the country. This book would be a great opportunity to discuss these transportation systems with students and give them basic skills that could help them maneuver through the systems if they ever found themselves in situations which that would be necessary.
Read
July 22, 2016Pablo is the new kid in school, but that's old news to him. Alicia, a friendly outgoing classmate, befriends him to be his partner on the school trip to the Empire State Building that day. Alicia and Pablo get separated from their class when Alicia tries to show Pablo a NYC subway map and their exact location, while their class boards a train. Luckily, their fact-filled teacher has prepared them well to navigate the subway system. Each try to pin it on each other, yet even despite a frantic teacher and classmates, they all wind up at their destination. Alicia and Pablo reunite after Alicia decides to walk and Pablo boards another train, allowing them to reflect and be friends in the end. Throughout the story, tidbits on the history of the NYC subway system are fittingly sprinkled throughout the story. Themes presented in this book are history, responsibility, friendship and moving homes. The text is presented in an interesting manner: speech bubbles are color coded to denote characters and order, at times the speech bubbles are presented across or around pages (emphasizing movement and chaos of the adventure). The animations in this graphic text are lively, and are supplemented with authentic pictures of the construction of the NYC subway system. The story is followed by interesting anecdotes and images on the history of the NYC subway system. This text could lend itself to text-to-self connections, prompting students to reflect on a time that they felt/were lost and responding to what they would do if there were a new student in class who may be difficult to befriend (since he/she may just be having a hard time adjusting). This graphic text is highly recommended for young, visual readers. Readers who enjoy this title may also enjoy My Subway Ride, Subway and My Taxi Ride.
June 6, 2018
The NYC subway, the Empire State Building, and the importance of friends and home.
New student Pablo and his buddy Alicia get separated from their class on a field trip to the Empire State Building.
New student Pablo and his buddy Alicia get separated from their class on a field trip to the Empire State Building.
July 12, 2016
Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure by Nadja Spiegelman is a graphic text that contains many detailed and realistic illustrations for visual readers. It is a story about a boy named Pablo who just moved to New York City. Pablo is shy and anxious as he joins his class on a field trip to the Empire State Building. Before the teacher takes the class on the trip, he discusses the history behind the Empire State Building, as well as the NYC subway system. During the adventure to the field trip, Pablo mistakenly takes the wrong train! The story takes the reader on a journey with Pablo to find his class. In a city that was brand new to Pablo, he learns to cope with the move and enjoy his new home. This story is a meaningful and purposeful book that I will purchase and include in my personal classroom library. It is an authentic book for children attending school in NYC because the subway system is a part of their everyday life. This not only tells a story of a boy who shares similar experiences as them, but it also includes accurate maps, photos, and information about the NYC community. Students can explore maps of Manhattan, Queens, and the subway system. They see pictures of the different NYC trains and learn about the differences between them. Students observe black and white visuals of trains from the past and present. They also learn about the Empire State Building and why there are no H, I, K, O, P, T, U, V, W, X, and Y trains. I particularly like this book because on the last page there are tips for teachers on how to explore this book with children. This book accurately depicts what NYC is like. It includes individuals from diverse cultures and respects the authenticity of NYC. This is a story that I will read to my students before we go on our first field trip in the beginning of the year. I take my students on the subway for field trips most of the time, so there are endless opportunities for text-to-self and text-to-world connections!
January 9, 2016
3.75 stars. As a person who very rarely takes trains, and who lives in a city with really only a few lines, the subway system of NYC was very confusing to me, and not something that I enjoyed (who knew there was such a thing as train traffic?!). So I thought that Lost in NYC: A Subway Adventure: A TOON Graphic was a neat (and short!) little book about a new boy named Pablo who moves to NYC and goes on a subway field trip to the Empire State Building.
The perspective in the book was cool and unique. The characters were larger than life compared to the urban landscape, and Spiegelman also displays the characters in multiple places of the same scene, which moves along the action while keeping the book quite short. I love the information about the history of NYC and its subway system, and the little maps of different lines--quite informative for anyone visiting or moving to NYC. But it was really TOO short--the characters changed their minds and feelings way too rapidly. That's really the only thing I didn't like about it. There wasn't much to get into how difficult it is to move around a lot, and going from lost to found took pretty much two pages.
Also, I feel like I shouldn't even mention this, but this is the first book I've read of Nadja Spiegelman, who is the daughter of The Complete Maus author Art Spiegelman. Her work more than stands on its own, and her style is also completely different.
Ages 6+
The perspective in the book was cool and unique. The characters were larger than life compared to the urban landscape, and Spiegelman also displays the characters in multiple places of the same scene, which moves along the action while keeping the book quite short. I love the information about the history of NYC and its subway system, and the little maps of different lines--quite informative for anyone visiting or moving to NYC. But it was really TOO short--the characters changed their minds and feelings way too rapidly. That's really the only thing I didn't like about it. There wasn't much to get into how difficult it is to move around a lot, and going from lost to found took pretty much two pages.
Also, I feel like I shouldn't even mention this, but this is the first book I've read of Nadja Spiegelman, who is the daughter of The Complete Maus author Art Spiegelman. Her work more than stands on its own, and her style is also completely different.
Ages 6+
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