Beneath the Streets of Boston:
Building America’s First Subway

written & illustrated by Joe McKendry
David R. Godine, Publisher

I met Joe McKendry through a friend, and we sat down for a beer one evening just steps from Arlington Street Station, one of the earliest stations on the Boston subway. Joe was a successful young illustrator who specialized in carefully observed watercolor illustrations and meticulous line drawings. He had been kicking around the idea for a book for young readers that told the history of Boston’s subway but hadn’t found a publisher to take it on. I signed the book on the strength of a handful of sketches and one or two finished paintings. Joe hadn’t yet written a word of text, so it was several months before I could even be sure the book would come together. The newspaper pages are actually Joe’s texts and illustrations merged with real Boston Globe stories, all elaborately composited in Photoshop. After a couple false starts, Joe found his footing, did a mountain of research, and made a genuinely remarkable book that went on to excellent reviews.

Hardcover with jacket, 9 × 11"