Death in the Air by Shane Peacock

This is the second novel of the young Sherlock Holmes. His mother is dead, his father wants nothing to do with him, blaming Sherlock for his wife's death. Sherlock is forswearing personal connections as this puts others at risk who could be close to him, yet he craves relationships with people.

It is fascinating to observe Sherlock's journey as he accumulates knowledge, develops proficiency with weapons, and hones his uncanny knack at observation and recall. He is manipulative, skilled and yet still a young adult.

I found this book to be more interesting and better written than the first in the series. I enjoyed seeing Sherlock's young life, contrasting it with the character I know through BBC renditions of the detective and seeing how Peacock explains how Sherlock becomes the man he is known to be through film and Doyle's stories. What I cannot evaluate is how this story will stand on its own since I've read the first one and how someone unfamiliar with Holmes might take the story without the broader context of this famous literary character. The first volume, I deemed too young for our group, but this one has a greater mixture of gore, violence and suspense that it fits into our age category.

I need others to weigh in on this. MAYBE

Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle

Twins, Pen and Percy must use their magic to save their governess, Ally, from men forcing her to use her magic against the Princess Victoria in 1937 England. It is part mystery and romance with a dash of fantasy added. It is a decent book but not great. I vote nay.

Side by Side: New Poems ed. by Jan Greenberg

In this collection of poetry, Greenberg collected poetry from all over the world that was inspired by works of art. Many of the poems are printed in both the native language and English and all are accompanied by the art that inspired it. At least one language (Tigrinya) I had to look up because I had never heard of it (it's spoken in Eritrea). The artwork is lovely, the poems are nice. I just don't see this book having a lot of teen appeal. I vote nay.

Evernight by Claudia Gray

A slightly clumsy, self-conscious young woman is starting at a new high school. On her first morning she meets a gorgeous, bronze-haired young man who makes her heart start to pound. But, he is obviously hiding some secret that makes him distant and potentially dangerous. No, this is not a Twilight re-cap, it is the actual beginning of Evernight by Claudia Gray. There was one surprising event, but it was so poorly conceived that it made the protagonist seem like two different characters altogether. Throw in names that are intentionally "fancy" and you have a so-so vampire-love story with no award potential. Nay.

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

Ruby Jacinski is 15 living in 1941 Chicago. She is forced to quit school and work in a meat processing factory after her mother can no longer work. Paulie, a friend and mobster wannabe, says her she should be a taxi dancer instead. So Ruby lies to her mother and she gets paid 5 cents a dance at a local dance hall and makes much more money. She learns hard lessons about men and friends. And then lies start catching up with her and when her mother remarries, it all explodes in her face. Inspired by the real life story of the author's great-aunt, this is a good look at a unique part of American WWII era history. It was a worth while book but I'm not too sure about TU quality. I'm leaning towards nay.

Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish

In this second book of the Monster Blood Tattoo Trilogy, Rossamund Bookchild is now a prentice lamplighter. Threnody, a monster hunter, is now with the lamplighters for training. This 602 page book, has an additional 100 pages of appendices, most of which is a glossary. Since I didn't read the first book, I had to flip back to the glossary so many times in the first 100 pages, I hate to admit it, that I gave up. At least one of the definitions had referred me back to the first book. So, I think, needless to say, I don't believe this book can stand alone. The illustrations are wonderful and the author obviously put a lot of effort into world building. I have to vote Nay.

The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding

Catherine "Cat" Royal lives in the Theater Royal in Drury Lane, London. This was an excellent historical fiction - an Regency England novel from the point of view of one of the lower class. Cat gets tangled up in a an adventure with a diamond, an artist in disguise, some lords, a lady, and the local gangs. Told by Cat, this novel follows the form of a play with "Acts" and "Scenes," "Principal Characters," and "The Critics." Cat's glossary at the end explicates her slang to her regency readers. So a creeper is a "louse, toady" and taggle-tail is a "slatternly woman." Our teens today might need to look up some of the definitions! I thought this had a lot of appeal, was fast moving, and clever. I vote yea.