Rebel Fire

Young Sherlock Holmes returns in this transcontinental adventure. He travels to America with his friends Virginia and Amyus Crowe to foil a Confederate insurgency and rescue a kidnapped friend. Narrator Daniel Weyman handles the nonstop action with aplomb. He speeds up his pace as Sherlock escapes death on horseback, ship, and train. Characters have unique voices and mannerisms, although all the Americans seem to share the same Southwestern accent--even the New Yorkers. Weyman provides an authoritative guide to an intricate story that covers miles of geography. His dry humor moderates the adventure scenes, and his deep, commanding voice ensures that listeners never lose their way through Sherlock's escapades. C.A. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

August 1, 2012

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

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.