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| York: The Shadow Cipher |
By
Laura Ruby
The first thing that will strike you about this book is
its cover. It’s the city of New York but
in an astounding alternate universe where machines transform themselves and
seem almost alive; where the subway (called the Underway) goes both above and
below ground and zings riders through a glorious cityscape; and where the
United Nations has been replaced by the “Embassy of the Five Hundred Nations,
flying the colorful flags of First Nations from the Abenaki to the Comanche,
Pawnee to the Sioux.” (p. 153)
In this mesmerizing atmosphere, three 13-year-olds, Theo
and Tess (twins) and their neighbour Jaime, are being evicted from their
apartment building at 354 W.73rd Street. Actually, everyone in the building is being
evicted and it will be torn down.
The building, and in fact, much of the New York in this novel was designed and built in
large part by the Morningstarrs, siblings who lived in the early 1800s. Their
minds led to the animated present-day New York.
But the Morningstarrs left something behind
besides the city and all its machines; they left the Old York Cipher, a
kind of code, that’s been unsolvable for 150 years. Legend has it that whoever solves the cipher
will find a treasure. But Theo, Tess and
Jaime are hoping that it could also save their home.
The three friends set out on an adventure to solve the
cipher, taking great risks as they go. They ride an out-of-control Underway car
and explore a long-forgotten tunnel under New York. They are desperate to save the place they
have lived all their lives and will go to great lengths to do it. But can they? Or will they go too far and
lose both their home and their lives?
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