Four Streets and a Square

Starred review from October 11, 2021
In this ambitious, richly visual “biography of an island and an idea,” Aronson (Poisoned Water) covers 400 years of Manhattan history, beginning with Munsee and Lenape agriculture and continuing through Civil War draft riots, AIDS activism, and Covid-19. Tracing the city’s initial evolution through five loci, he focuses on Wall Street, a center of displacement, revolution, and finance; Union Square, a new kind of city center; 42nd Street, which challenged artistic sensibilities; “transnational” West 4th Street, “capital of revolutionary thinking and living”; and 125th Street, center of the Harlem Renaissance and subsequent cultural movements. Details about the city’s subsequent fall and rise follow, not stinting on people and motivations rooted in prejudice, including a city-wide “racial purge” in 1863. An intersectionally inclusive, well-contextualized volume about a city that constantly “create and re-creat itself out of the clash and confluence of its self-renewing resource: its people.” Ample visuals include archival photos, historic maps, and newspaper illustrations; extensive back matter follows. Ages 10–up. (Nov.)■

November 1, 2021
Grades 6-10 Aronson's love of his hometown shines through in this detailed history of and ode to the "idea" of New York, a place where "a clash and combination fostered ideas, art, political organizations, and music that spread across the country and the world." Maps, photographs, primary- and secondary-source writings, time lines, and Aronson's observations combine in sections that cover the streets and square of the title from 1600 to today. A linked website offers multimedia resources (artwork, historian sites, and the full text of books and articles) to complement Aronson's narrative. These are noted by symbols, so readers can dip into a section and easily find related materials without flipping to the back matter (a plus for young readers). Happily, this work can help banish some New York myths--the Dutch buying Manhattan for $24 is a fable, he says, going on to explain what really happened. In addition, Aronson truly imparts a feeling of the city's vigor and the degree to which immigrants made and make it. A solid choice for high school and public library shelves.

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Starred review from December 1, 2021

Gr 7 Up-A well-organized and impeccably researched nonfiction book about the history of New York City from the 1600s to present. From Alexander Hamilton to 42nd Street, from the Lenape to the immigrant communities that made the city what it is, famous people, places, and events abound in this encapsulation of the city. More than just a geographical location, this is an exploration of the culture, people, and events that make New York City a fascinating and iconic place. Aronson's text is interspersed with photos, illustrations, and multimedia links to his website that give readers an immersive and thorough experience. The author includes a bibliography, a description on how the book is organized, a section on the terminology that is used, why he used specific terms, and detailed source notes that are helpfully limned by chapter. While the book may be lengthy for some middle school students, it will keep readers' attention with its cohesiveness and strong voice. A great choice for research or for those who can't get enough of the Big Apple. VERDICT A must-have for middle and high school libraries.-April Crowder, Bettendorf P.L., Bettendorf, IA

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2021
"New York is alive. I mean alive like an ecosystem," as demonstrated by Aronson in this "biography" of Manhattan. With meticulous detail and an innovative format, he presents four hundred years of Manhattan's history, where the diversity of its population is the engine for innovation and evolution. For the years 1600-1898, he explores the development of the Wall Street and Union Square areas; the twentieth century adds 42nd Street, 125th Street, and West 4th Street. Each section provides "a window into times and places where the intense forces of city life gave birth to thrilling new expressions of human creativity." Aronson explores such topics as the Munsee settlements prior to the arrival of Europeans, the American Revolution, the city's reliance on the slave economy at the onset of the Civil War, immigration, and the skyward development of the city. Art and music play big roles, and the design of the book supports an effective presentation: when an icon of a screen appears in the margins, readers can go to the author's website for multimedia resources. Linked music includes cantors singing at synagogue services, ragtime bands, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Other icons lead to digital texts and resources created by historians. Abundant archival photographs and brief photo-essays, maps, and timelines add to the rich presentation. Consider this Aronson's four-hundred-plus-page love letter to his hometown. Back matter includes an author's note, extensive source notes, and a bibliography. Dean Schneider

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from September 15, 2021
From the Munsee and Lenape peoples to the Covid-19 pandemic, this book presents the history of Manhattan and the essence of New York City. Centering the narrative around Manhattan, specifically the four iconic thoroughfares of 125th Street, Forty-Second Street, Wall Street, and West Fourth Street, historian Aronson transports readers through the vast and complex history of New York City in a vivid accounting of its cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth. Written in a conversational tone and broken up into manageable units and chapters with handy snapshot timelines and ample illustrations, this work has appeal for readers interested in the forces that have shaped this unparalleled global city. As relayed here, New York's past is filled with stories of bravery, hard work, determination, and perseverance--as well as being rife with racism, classism, sexism, antisemitism, ableism, and more. Leaders, activists, politicians, and icons are not framed simplistically as heroes; instead, Aronson presents them as the real people they were--sometimes motivated by greed, hatred, fear, and desire. The narrative includes Indigenous people, colonizers, enslaved people, immigrants, queer people, and people of all genders, and it incorporates a broad range of subjects including the arts, sports, and education. This beautifully written book eloquently gives voice to the myriad people who built New York into the singular city it is today. A profound declaration of love for the city of New York. (terminology, author's note, source notes, bibliography, image credits, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2021
"New York is alive. I mean alive like an ecosystem," as demonstrated by Aronson in this "biography" of Manhattan. With meticulous detail and an innovative format, he presents four hundred years of Manhattan's history, where the diversity of its population is the engine for innovation and evolution. For the years 1600-1898, he explores the development of the Wall Street and Union Square areas; the twentieth century adds 42nd Street, 125th Street, and West 4th Street. Each section provides "a window into times and places where the intense forces of city life gave birth to thrilling new expressions of human creativity." Aronson explores such topics as the Munsee settlements prior to the arrival of Europeans, the American Revolution, the city's reliance on the slave economy at the onset of the Civil War, immigration, and the skyward development of the city. Art and music play big roles, and the design of the book supports an effective presentation: when an icon of a screen appears in the margins, readers can go to the author's website for multimedia resources. Linked music includes cantors singing at synagogue services, ragtime bands, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Other icons lead to digital texts and resources created by historians. Abundant archival photographs and brief photo-essays, maps, and timelines add to the rich presentation. Consider this Aronson's four-hundred-plus-page love letter to his hometown. Back matter includes an author's note, extensive source notes, and a bibliography.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)