Virtual Reality

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!