EnolaÕs landlady, Mrs. Tupper, is the closest thing Enola has to family these days, besides her occasional run-ins with her brother Sherlock. Even though Mrs. Tupper is nearly deaf and can barely cook, sheÕs an endearing presence as Enola longs for her absent mother. So imagine her horror when Enola comes home to find Mrs. Tupper kidnapped! Who would take her, and why? And what does Florence Nightingale have to do with it? From the master of mystery Nancy Springer, hereÕs another absorbing adventure for our award-winning, unstoppable heroine, Enola Holmes. Grade 5-9–From the riveting prologue to the satisfying conclusion, readers are hurled headlong into Enola Holmes's latest case. Still eluding her brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft, who will, she fears, place her in a finishing school, Enola is horrified one day to find that her beloved landlady, Mrs. Tupper, has been kidnapped. Using her wealth of disguises, Enola sets out to solve the crime. Much to her astonishment, the trail leads to a meeting with Florence Nightingale, with whom Mrs. Tupper was acquainted. The atmospheric setting and the voice of the heroine are so compelling that even though readers may not know what a crinoline is, they will want to find out. Kids who enjoy the details of historical settings and solving mysterious ciphers will cheer this feisty heroine as she leaps out of windows, jumps onto the backs of coaches, and fights evil villains in the dark streets of London to rescue her dear landlady. Well done! –Tina Martin, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Sherlock Holmes’ 14-year-old sister, Enola, makes her fifth appearance, as clever as her much older brother and still determined to be on her own after being abandoned by her mother and threatened with boarding school. But now that freedom is in jeopardy when her landlady is abducted, seemingly because she has carried a message from the “Bird.” The mystery itself, concerning smuggling during the Crimean War, won’t be of much interest to kids, but the appearance of the enigmatic Florence Nightingale adds appeal, as will the cat-and-mouse game Enola must play with Sherlock. Mostly, though, it’s Enola, strong and determined, who carries this one. Grades 5-8. --Ilene Cooper "Kids...will cheer this feisty heroine as she leaps out of windows, jumps onto the backs of coaches, and fights evil villains in the dark streets of London..." -- School Library Journal Nancy Springer has published forty novels for adults, young adults and children. In a career beginning shortly after she graduated from Gettysburg College in 1970, Springer wrote for ten years in the imaginary realms of mythological fantasy, then ventured on contemporary fantasy, magical realism, and women's fiction before turning her attention to children's literature. Her novels and stories for middle-grade and young adults range from contemporary realism, mystery/crime, and fantasy to her critically acclaimed novels based on the Arthurian mythos, I AM MORDRED: A TALE OF CAMELOT and I AM MORGAN LE FAY. Springer's children's books have won her two Edgar Allan Poe awards, a Carolyn W. Field award, various Children's Choice honors and numerous ALA Best Book listings. Her most recent series include the Tales of Rowan Hood, featuring Robin Hood’s daughter, and the Enola Holmes mysteries, starring the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. Ms. Springer lives in East Berlin, Pennsylvania.