Lantern Sam and the Blue Streak Bandits - Hardcover

MICHAEL D. BEIL teaches English at an all-girls Catholic high school in New York City. He is the author of Summer at Forsaken Lake, as well as four installments of the Edgar Award–nominated mystery series The Red Blazer Girls. He lives with his wife, two dogs, and two cats.

*Starred Review* In 1938, 10-year-old Henry and his mother board the Shoreliner express train, bound from New York to Chicago. Henry soon befriends Ellie (the lively, observant, and talkative daughter of his father’s wealthy boss); Clarence (the train’s dependable conductor); and Clarence’s companion, Sam (a talking cat with adventures in his past and the ever-present hope of sardines in his future). When Ellie is kidnapped, Henry, Clarence, and Sam join forces to rescue her and get entangled in a jewelry heist along the way. The express train serves as both an intriguing, unusual period setting and as a classic mystery device, confining the suspects in one place for a defined time. The dual first-person narrative shifts between Henry’s riveting account of the mysteries aboard the train and Sam’s equally absorbing autobiography, which features many narrow escapes from near-certain death. The distinctive voices of the earnest lad and the sardonic cat add welcome contrast as the focus shifts from one to the other. Beil is best known for writing The Red Blazer Girls (2009) and its sequels. With its swift pacing, suspense, and humor, his latest mystery is a fine choice for reading aloud or reading alone. Pair it with Kenneth Oppel’s historical railway epic The Boundless (2014). Grades 4-6. --Carolyn Phelan