When I was in middle school, all 8th graders were required
to take a computer science class. At the beginning of every class the teacher
would have us recite the history of computing with a chant. I vaguely recall the lyrics including Babbage!
and FORTRAN! What I can’t forget is the
enthusiasm of the teacher as she punctuated every lesson with a multitude of
exclamation points and cheerleader-like excitement.
Something of that enthusiasm for learning is
captured in The Unseen World by Liz
Moore. Ada Sibelius is a precocious 12-year-old being raised by a single father
who isn’t called Dad, but David. Each day, David and the homeschooled Ada go to
the computer science lab he directs at the Boston Institute of Technology. Her favorite parts of the day are when she
gets to spend time on the lab’s key project, a chatbot program called
ELIXIR.
One Saturday, Ada wakes to find her father missing. When
he reappears late the next day, Ada begins to suspect something is wrong with
his memory. Enlisting the help of David’s colleague Liston, Ada concedes that
he may more need care than she can provide. Just before he’s placed in a care
facility, he hands her a floppy disk that contains a puzzle for her to solve.
Two decades later, we see the adult Ada preparing to
meet with investors to demonstrate a virtual reality headset she has helped develop.
As she tries to escape her present, she delves deeper into her past, finally
cracking the code her father left for her to figure out his true identity – and
hers.
Fans of Wrinkle
in Time and Anastasia Krupnik will find that Moore’s characters embody the awkwardness of adolescence and the magic of
discovery. She also conveys the pain of trying to remain true to one’s identity
when the world hasn’t quite caught up as well as the elixir of escaping reality that is all too tempting.
Don’t be too alarmed if when you reach the book’s satisfying
conclusion, you find yourself cheering…Gimme an A! Gimme a D! Gimme an A! ADA!
