Subway Love by Nora Raleigh Baskin (review)

A few years ago, Laura’s mom went from being a Jackie Kennedy–like conservative to a free-loving flower child, divorcing Laura’s dad and moving the family from Brooklyn to Woodstock. The whole peace and love movement seems to have been lost on Laura’s mom’s latest boyfriend, though, who beats Laura with an alarming regularity. Meanwhile, sixteen-year-old Jonas is dealing with his own family issues, having been the one to discover his father’s affair through some scandalous emails. The two teenagers are drawn to each other on a New York City subway car, but it’s Jonas who realizes their connection transcends time, with Laura existing in 1973 and Jonas living in modern day NYC. Their romance blooms but it can’t last, and Laura ultimately makes the painful decision to end it. This is a quiet, heartfelt love story that is not only about two kids falling for each other but also about their healing from painful events and learning to take charge of their own fate, despite the failures of the adults in their lives. Although she’s shadowed by her abuse, Laura’s not defined by it, and Baskin paints her as an active and eager partner in her emotional and physical relationship with Jonas, not just a girl needing to be saved. A subplot involving a subway graffiti artist further contextualizes their romance and leaves readers with the message that this love story, like any love story, is both singularly important and also just one of many human narratives.