Published by Aladdin 

Summary:  Apothecaries around London are being murdered.  Christopher Rowe, apprentice to apothecary Benedict Blackwell, isn’t too worried…until his master sends him on a wild goose chase errand, and he returns to learn that Blackwell has become the latest victim.  Overwhelmed by grief, Christopher discovers an encoded message in the shop’s ledger and sets out to decipher it.  When he realizes Blackwell has named his killer in the message, Christopher knows he is in great peril.  Slowly, he uncovers the dangerous secrets of the Cult of the Archangel, and learns of his master’s involvement in activities designed to unleash the power of God.  Ultimately, Christopher must make certain that these powers don’t fall into the hands of the evil men who are seeking them…and rapidly closing in on Christopher himself.  Grades 5-8.

Pros:  Set in 17^th-century London, this murder mystery/historical fiction thriller is a DaVinci Code for kids.  It took me awhile to dig into a book about an apothecary from the 1600’s, but Christopher is given a humorous, modern voice, without taking away from the historical authenticity.  With an escaped evildoer, uncertainty about Christopher’s next master, and the plague pushing against London’s borders, a sequel must surely be in the works.

Cons:  The final showdown gets pretty gory.  Someone loses half his fingers, a couple eyes are put out, and two characters will move into the next installment with a good portion of their faces gone.

Published by Disney-Hyperion 

Summary: Serafina’s always been pretty happy living in the basement of the Biltmore estate with her Pa. Sure, she’s a little different than other kids and her existence is a secret, but she enjoys prowling through the house at night, catching rats. Then one night she sees a man in a black cloak abducting a little girl. When he wraps the girl in his cloak, she disappears. Serafina barely escapes herself, but when she tries to tell her story the next morning, only one person believes her. That’s Braeden Vanderbilt, the nephew of the estate’s owner, whose tragic past has made him a bit of a loner as well. As more children vanish from the estate, Serafina and Braeden team up to try to figure out who the mysterious man is and what can be done to stop him…before it’s too late for them. Grades 5-7.

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFZvSzfnm6I

Pros: This would be a great choice to teach the term “gothic novel”. Lots of dark creepiness everywhere, relieved only at the end when Serafina proves herself a true heroine and learns the amazing truth about her own past.

Cons: Preview this before giving it to a child. Pretty scary stuff, and occasionally a bit gruesome as well.

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 

Summary: 11-year-old Nell Warne has had a tough life, seeing her mother die, then her two brothers, and finally, her estranged father. With no other family left, she is unceremoniously dumped on her dead uncle’s widow, Aunt Kitty, in Chicago. Aunt Kitty has no interest in taking in an orphan. First of all, she blames Nell’s father for her husband’s murder. And secondly, she’s too busy with her career as the first woman detective in America, working for Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency. But there’s no other place for Nell, so the two of them end up traveling undercover to Philadelphia, Mississippi, and New York City to solve a series of mysteries. Their final case brings them to Baltimore, where Nell proves herself once and for all by helping Aunt Kitty thwart an assassination attempt on the new president, Abraham Lincoln. Grades 4-7.

Pros: The author’s note explains that Kate (Kitty) Warne was a real person, the first female detective in America. Both she and Nell are strong, spunky characters that are fun to read about, and their adventures read like a series of 19^th-century Nancy Drew mysteries. The subplot about Nell’s father, Kate’s husband, and their involvement with the Underground Railroad just before the Civil War add interesting historical details.

Cons: Although the letters between Nell and her friend Jemma helped explain some necessary background, they sometimes felt like an interruption of the main plot.