Rebel Fire: Sherlock Holmes: The Legend Begins, Book 2

Gr 6–9—Sherlock Holmes stars as a teenager in this tale (Farrar, 2012) by Andrew Lane. He overhears a conversation that leads him to believe that John Wilkes Booth, notorious for his assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, is not dead, but alive and well in England. Booth and his cohorts catch Sherlock in his attempt to ferret out information and flee back to America, taking with them Sherlock's best friend, Matty, as a hostage. Accompanied by his tutor, Amyus Crow, and Crow's daughter, Sherlock makes his first visit to America to rescue his friend, and finds himself embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Union Army and reestablish a Confederate States of America. Listeners learn how he saves his friend, discovers the plot's mastermind, and thwarts the army's plan for invasion. Daniel Weyman narrates cleverly, lending authentic accents to characters of English, American, Irish, and German descent. This book, part of the first teen series endorsed by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate, will not disappoint.—Amanda Rollins, Northwest Village School, Plainville, CT