York

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 13, 2017

Review

This intelligent cipher story is a well-crafted but dense read. Coming in at a whopping 476 pages, and using sophisticated vocabulary and ideas, the book is for a strong reader who can stick with a rambling, but intriguing plotline told through several characters' voices. The story centers around a cryptic game called the Old York Cipher which was created in the mid-1800s by a brilliant brother/sister team, Theresa and Theodore Morningstarr. In current day York, a world reminiscent or/parallel to New York City, another brother/sister team Tess and Theo are about to be evicted from their beloved apartment in one of the last remaining Morningstarr buildings. The city has promised to sell all five of the buildings to single-minded, somewhat shady developer Darnell Slant, who is looking to move the city into the future. In a desperate effort to save their historic building, Tess and Theo, along with Jaime, a fellow classmate and current tenant of their building, go on a quest to solve the heretofore unsolvable cipher. And Ruby's plotting lets the reader know that the game chooses its players so the kids may really be onto something. Unfortunately, the kids are moments too late in a twist of an ending that will lead to Book 2. Give to readers of The Westing Game or The Mysterious Benedict Society series.

Overall Book Score: very good