This hybrid title combines a short history of Boston with brief biographies of some of the city's major figures in diverse fields, including Phyllis Wheatley, Horace Mann, Louisa May Alcott, Ted Williams, and Julia Child. Each page includes a well-captioned illustration, many in color, and the book is effectively laid out, making for pleasant browsing.

Readers may know Boston as the capital of Massachusetts, the home of the Red Sox, and for playing an important role during the Revolutionary War. Many, however, probably would be surprised to learn that it is also home to America's first subway and where Alexander Graham Bell developed the telephone. Readers can expand their appreciation for this city by looking at it through the lens of innovation. Using an engaging style, Krensky introduces children to forward-thinking Bostonians and their ideas. These innovators include doctors, teachers, humanitarians, athletes, and authors whose work still impacts our lives today. Some are recognized far and wide, while others are remembered only locally, but their inventions are still around today, including Ruth Wakefield's chocolate chip cookies. The crisp text, colorful photographs, clear captions, and interesting sidebars make browsing through this book a pleasure. While students in Massachusetts are the book's most likely audience, children with an interest in United States history and the concept of innovation will find it an attractive choice.

Although many readers may be familiar with Krensky from the Lionel books, this is quite a change for him. In this text, the author pairs the history of Boston with the many innovtive ideas, projects, and products that originated there. Beginning with Cotton Mather using inoculation to combat smallpox, ideas ranged from Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone to Fanni Farmer's Idea of actually measuring ingredients in a recipe to Edwin Land's development of the instant photograph. The text is easy to read with ample credited illustrations. A brief list of suggested additional readings is included. Also included is a timeline of Boston's innovations history from the landing of William Blackstone in 1624 to Eric Lander's Human Genome project out of Cambridge which began in 2000. Of particular interest to educators would be the Acitvity and Discussion guide provided at the publisher's Web site. This book would be a useful resource on the history of Boston as well as an introduction to innovations and inventions and how they come about.