terrific book about a society hidden underneath New York City, with its own rules and culture, and how a girl from the "Topside" meets a boy who's a Downsider and together they get into all sorts of adventures. ( )

I have had this book on my shelf to read for years. I really enjoyed Shusterman’s Skinjacker trilogy and had picked up some of his older books to read. This was an okay read, it reminded a bit of a young adult version of Gaiman’s Neverwhere...but not as magical.

Talon lives under the streets of New York’s city in a secret community called Downsiders. Lindsey is forced to move to New York City to live with her dad, who is working on a project to create a new aqueduct for the city. Lindsey is lonely and incredibly curious when she spies a boy, Talon, down in the sewers. Talon and Lindsey meet and Talon breaks the greatest rule of Downsider society...he reveals their existence to Lindsey. Now Talon faces a sentence of death but as Lindsey’s dad breeches part of the Downsiders territory bigger problems face New York City.

This book was well written and engaging. It’s a pretty straight-forward and simple story. I enjoy the idea of a secret society under the streets of New York City, as I mentioned is reminded a bit of a simpler, less magical, young adult version of Gaiman’s Neverwhere.

Talon and Lindsey are both well done characters. They are each driven by fairly simple motives. Talon is eternally curious and wants to be part of the world above. Lindsey is lonely and looking for a mystery to solve. They are fairly simple but engaging characters and younger readers should be able to easily relate to them.

I loved the mystery behind why and when the society of Downsiders was formed, this was probably the most interesting part of the book. There are some good lessons in here about friendship and community. I do think the idea of secret societies forming underneath cities and the surface of the Earth in general has been a bit overdone, so it’s not all that creative...still Shusterman does a good job with this.

Overall a good book. It’s a pretty simple story with simple yet engaging characters. I enjoyed the mystery of how Downside came into existence and loved the idea of a city underneath New York City. The whole book was a bit too simplistic for me to absolutely love, but I think younger readers will find the ideas here intriguing and enjoy it even more than I did. ( )

Talon lives Downside, underneath New York City. When he accidentally meets Lindsay, a Topsider from above ground, their worlds inevitably collide.

Lindsay moves into a New York brownstone with her engineer father and rotten stepbrother Todd after her mother takes off. By accident, Lindsay discovers Talon, a teenage boy who lives in a secret underground city called the Downside. Lindsay's father's massive construction project threatens to reveal the existence of the Downside, and Lindsay and Talon have to try to save the Downside. This is a fun, urban legend kind of story (yes, the alligators in the sewers story shows up along with a lot of other urban legends), but its strength is showing how the culture we grow up in often decides for us how we see others who are different ... and how valuable it is to be able to see beyond that. ( )

This book ignited my love of subways, things hidden below, and underground communities (although my favorite book in this sub-genre (ha) is Gaiman's Neverwhere). I wish Shusterman included some references about Beach at the end; the connection between the story and reality is what most fascinated me the first time I read Downsiders. (Yay for the upcoming sequel!)