Gods of Manhattan » (Reprint)

Scott Mebus is the author of books for adults (Booty Nomad and The Big Happy) and has worked as a producer and director in television (for MTV and VH1). He also writes and performs for theater and does stand-up comedy. Scott lives in New York City.

Look. What do you see? Sidewalks, skyscrapers, pigeons? But there's more. More that only twelve-year-old Rory Hennessey can see. More that only Rory can reveal to others.

So, look again. What do you see? Layered on our own New York is a spirit city inhabited by warrior cockroaches, malevolent subway trains, kung fu rodents, hungry gargoyles, and children made entirely of papier-mache. Built by history and legend, it's ruled by the Gods of Manhattan, lions of New York like Peter Stuyvesant and Babe Ruth.

Now everyone is racing to find Rory—the boy who can see. The boy who can change the destiny of New York.

Children's Literature

It started out as a simple child's birthday party with cake and a magic show and then it awakened a secret world for Rory. In this book, Gods of Manhattan, Rory can see beyond the present into the past. He has to figure out how this is happening and who to trust. Another conflict arises when Rory realizes that he might be able to find his missing father. Was he really dead or stuck in a past life? Rory also learns how dead heroes like Alexander Hamilton and even Babe Ruth become gods that rule this world, hidden within the boundary of New York City called Mannahatta. The final showdown between good and evil happens in one of the most famous landmarks in Manhattan—Central Park. Rory has it on good authority that an Indian tribe has been held hostage there forever, and only he can save them. Will helping them put his mother and sister at risk? Has Rory been cursed or given a gift? This action-packed book will take the reader not only through Manhattan but through an interesting and fun history lesson as well. Author, Scott Mebus, combines fact and fiction to write this riveting book packed with suspense at every corner. He creates a world so authentic that you may question whether it really exists. The main character, Rory, reacts so much like a typical teenager by plunging both feet into trouble until it affects more than him. What a fantastic find on any shelf! Reviewer: Julia Beiker