City of Secrets

City of Secrets by Mary Hoffman, 2008 Bloomsbury

   Matt Wood follows his friends, Nick and Georgia, into an antique store where he finds a book which somehow speaks to him. Matt rarely finds a connection with books as he is dyslexic, but this book is different. When he falls into a stress-induced sleep holding the book, Matt awakens in the scriptorium at the university in Padavia; a city much like Renaissance Padua.
     The man who introduces him to this strange world is Professor Constantin. Constantin explains the Scriptorium to Matt and describes Stravagation. The professor believes Matt is meant to help him print outlawed anatomy manuscripts and disperse them throughout Talia. Nick and Georgia are Stravagante too--they help Matt balance the two parts of his life and to grow with his responsibilities in Talia.
     At the Scriptorium Matt meets Lucien, a fellow classmate who has transferred into Talia and is studying at the university. Luciano's fiancee is Arianna, the Duchessa of Bellezza, and Matt struggles to deal with the rediscovery. Meanwhile, Arianna's enemies and the enemies of the Stravagante, the di Chimici, continue to use social unrest in an attempt to unite Talia and gain both the political power and ability to travel between worlds which is unavailable to them.
     When danger strikes his newfound friends, Matt finds he is the only one who can assist. He finds faith in himself enough to stand up to the di Chimici and risk his life for his beliefs. Matt struggles with his abilities and trying to be like others; early teen readers will relate to his experience in balancing the adventure and the responsibility of growing up.