UNDERGROUND TRAIN

Quattlebaum (The Magic Squad and the Dog of Great Potential, 1997, etc.) makes the subway a fairly exciting, thought-provoking place in a story about a girl and her mother traveling via the train to Nana's neighborhood: ``Down, down, down to the underground train, which rushes past like fast water.'' Once aboard, the girl scopes out the other passengers and watches ``the tunnel blurring by like a long, black night.'' The energy of the train is reflected in the bustle above-ground, where Smith shows swarms of tourists visiting the sights while locals go about their business—the elders rush around, youngsters jump rope and barrel down sidewalks on in-line skates. Quattlebaum and Smith convey both the strange magic of the subway—drop into the ground in one place, pop up in another—and the sense of urgency that informs the entire underground experience. (Picture book. 5-8)