"These monthly subway rides
are never ending, and as usual,
Milo is a shook-up soda.
Excitement stacked on top of worry
on top of confusion
on top of love.
To keep himself from bursting, he studies
the faces around him and makes pictures of their lives.
In this collaboration that has produced three magnificent books for young readers, Milo is on the subway, surrounded by many others. Milo is anxious as he always is when he takes this monthly ride with his sister. Milo is an artist. He uses his time to take note of the people who are riding with them. He imagines (and draws) how his fellow passengers live their lives.
"At a downtown local stop,
the whiskered man folds up
his crossword and hurries off
the train.
Milo imagines him trudging
through brown mounds of slush.
It's a five-flight climb
to his cluttered apartment,
where he's greeted by mewing cats
and burrowing rats."
He imagines a young boy about his age as a prince in a castle with servants and scrumptious food. The action on the train is non-stop and Milo takes it all in, always thinking up a new story for each person he notices. When he puts his notebook away, he wonders what others imagine his life to be. Can they picture his life's events?
The subway stops, the two cross the platform and head upstairs. He is startled to see his 'prince' has also gotten off at their stop. It makes him rethink some of his stories. He joins the line he and his sister share with many others as they wait to visit their incarcerated mother. The picture he gifts her on that special day is his hope for their future.
Exceptional storytelling, honest and charming collage illustrations, and a heartfelt family story is resonant and memorable.
What a team!
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