The Tomorrow Code is clever sci-fi for 12- to 16-yearolds. It is fast-paced and exciting, similar in parts to Matthew Reilly’s writing. The prologue is set in Alaska when a Bioterrorism Response Force raids a science unit, but the scientists have disappeared, leaving only clothing. Teens Rebecca, Tane and older brother, Fatboy, seem to receive a message from the future which they download and decode from the NASA satellite. This is almost credible in the context of (what seem to be) scientific descriptions of a gamma ray burst and quantum foam. They interpret an apparent SOS from themselves in the future and the Superbowl (lottery) numbers, which enable them to buy a mini submarine. The author develops the plot incisively; they meet a scientist studying rhinoviruses on an island and are caught up in the sinister mist that is enveloping New Zealand. The writing is fluid, incorporating codes and patterns, and lateral puzzles solved by creative Tane. Rebecca, another interesting character, easily solves the exacting science conundrums. Ideal for individuals and the school market, this novel surprises with a denoument that emulates the mobius strip motif played with by the author throughout.

Joy Lawn is the children’s literature consultant at Coaldrake’s Bookshop in Brisbane

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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