Despite the destruction of their beloved apartment building at the end of the previous book (York: The Shadow Cipher, rev. 5/17), codebreaking twins Theo and Tess Biedermann, along with artistic puzzle-solver Jaime Cruz, are more committed to solving the impossible-seeming Morningstarr Cipher than ever. Following a complicated trail of clues, which stitches the technologically advanced present to an enigmatic past (both their own and that of the books alternate New York City setting), the tweens solve puzzlesbringing stone eagles to life, digging up graves, and uncovering less-than-savory genetic experiments as they go. But these three are not the only ones pursuing the treasure that supposedly awaits at the end of the Cipher, and danger is rapidly closing in. A few narrative contrivances aside, this second installment in Rubys steampunk mystery series should delight and enthrall fans. anastasia m. collins September/October 2019 p.99(c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Following opener The Shadow Cipher (2017), Ruby's York trilogy continues.Ruby returns to her fascinatingly similar-but-different New York City (the Liberty Statue and the Underway replace the Statue of Liberty and the subway; machines such as an animate suit of armor that makes pancakes are not out of the ordinarybut gentrification and the PATH line remain the same). Picking up shortly after the destruction of their building by developer Darnell Slant, Jewish twins Tess and Theo Biederman and their best friend, Trinidadian-Cuban Jaime Cruz, are still on the trail of the treasure promised by the Morningstarr Cipher. This time around the mystery is more complex, and some of the madcap fun has been replaced by a sense of deeper malice; "fixer" Duke Goodson and his "ladies" (all white, as all the villains here seem to be) are crafty foes who even manage to kidnap Tess' preternaturally intelligent service animal. Meanwhile the "brown-skinned" female superhero from Jaime's sketchbooks seems to have come to life, and the revelations she drops about the mysterious Morningstarr twins, who transformed the city after arriving there in 1798, move the series from mostly mystery to possibly science fiction but maybe fantasy, in the best way possible, all supported by overt discussion of inclusion, diversity, and social justice.Woke magical mystery for preteens? Bring on Volume 3, STAT. (Mystery/fantasy. 10-15) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Set in a steampunk version of New York, this novel sends precocious twins back in time to solve a puzzle and save the city. WE ALL KNOW the elements of a good treasure hunt. An old map that sets you on an adventure. Clues waiting in unexpected places. Shifting alliances. Obsession and greed. A treasure that turns out to be not what you hoped, but perhaps what you need. And pirates are always good. In "York," Laura Ruby's captivating new novel, her first for middle grade readers, the treasure hunt takes place in a presentday, steam-punky version of New York. This New York contains solar cars, robotic insects that clean the streets, pets born from wild genetic crossbreeding (anyone for a raccoon-monkey?), elevators that roam in all directions, and the Morningstarrs. Imagine Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Gehry and Steve Jobs rolled into one. Or two, since we're talking about twins. Theresa and Theodore Morningstarr were 19th-century brother and sister architects, engineers and all-around geniuses. Their skyscrapers, trains and robotic advances (as in a robot manservant named Lancelot who makes pancakes) shaped modern New York. But the Morningstarrs' most intriguing legacy was the Old York Cipher, a series of clues buried in the bones of the city. Solve the clues and claim a great treasure. A century and a half after the Morningstarrs' disappearance, no one has come close. Enter Tess and Theo Biedermann, precocious twins named after the Morningstarrs, who live in one of the Morningstarr buildings. Theo has won a competition for building the Tower of London in Legos (an architect like his eponym), while Tess trots around Manhattan with a giant part-cat part-wolf, and has a tendency to imagine every worst possible situation. ("What if a great white shark swam up the Hudson River? What if a tornado touched down in the middle of Broadway?") But Tess's fears prove real when their building is bought by an unscrupulous real estate developer named Darnell Slant, who plans to tear it down. The twins' only hope is to solve the Old York Cipher, whose treasure will allow them to save their home. They're helped by Jaime Cruz, a budding artist who lives in the building with his grandmother, and when the children discover a letter from Theresa Morningstarr which promises a clue in the Cipher, the game's afoot. Their journey takes them around New York and into the city's past, both real and fantastical, as they encounter the nefarious henchmen of Slant, delve into the bowels of the Old York Cipherist Society (a group of either learned scholars or paranoid cranks), and try to parse whom they can trust. Along the way, there's action and peril, including a scene involving a giant mechanical insect that eats dirt and sometimes people; but at key junctures, it's each child's individual talents that lead him or her to solve a particular element of the puzzle. The result is that the children's victories feel won by bravery, creativity and intelligence, which makes them true heirs of the Morningstarrs. The pleasures of the novel go far beyond the crackling, breathless plot and the satisfaction of watching the puzzle fall into place. The book is shot through with humor, both laugh-out-loud and subtle, and Ruby, whose Y.A. novel "Bone Gap" won a Printz Award and was a finalist for a National Book Award, takes delight in a beautiful, evocative phrase. "The Underway rumbled under her feet," she writes of Tess, "as if she were walking on the back of some great murmuring beast." And like a good debater, Ruby anticipates a reader's doubts. Tess asks: How can it be that adults have been trying to solve this puzzle for a century and a half, and now three kids will be able to crack it? Or, as Theo wonders, with the New York landscape constantly changing, how could the Morningstarrs have expected that the clues to their Cipher would survive? The answer - which promises a deeper mystery to come (this being the first in a trilogy) - is that the Cipher and the Morningstarr machines are actually responding to Theo, Tess and Jaime by providing them with fresh clues. The suggestion is that the Morningstarr creations are an early version of A.I., and that this treasure hunt will reveal that the city itself is built upon a giant living mass of machinery, waiting to be awaked. But for that, we'll have to wait for the next book. Maybe there'll even be pirates. JOHN STEPHENS is the author of the Emerald Atlas trilogy.

Tess, Theo, and Jaime are struggling to settle into new homes after the suspicious destruction of their beloved apartment building, and, while they're still on the case of the infamous New York Cipher, they're not as gung ho ­after all, the last time they solved a puzzle, their building collapsed into rubble. But when Tess' beloved cat, Nine, is framed for an attack, they hunt even harder for clues and find a conspiracy bigger than they bargained for. Ruby takes a classic puzzle mystery and compellingly draws it out, both in the time the puzzles take and by giving the characters room to contemplate their feelings. That emotional depth is not typical for this kind of plot, and kids who crave meaty character development will appreciate it. Meanwhile, the intricate puzzles, fantastical gadgets, and rich grasp of the hidden history of New York City mean there's something fascinating to explore on nearly every page. A mystifying cliff-hanger raises even more questions and should leave series fans desperate for the forthcoming trilogy-ender.--Sarah Hunter Copyright 2019 Booklist