CD Giveaway - 33Miles, "One Life"
Ends Aug 4, 2010
The country-pop sound established in their eponymous debut is a mainstay for this album as well, and even adds a little more southern flavor.
CD Giveaway - Phil Wickham, "Cannons"
Ends Aug 3, 2010
With an opening shot that hits the sonic pinnacle, this collection of spiritual Brit pop/rock is heavily influenced by Keane, Travis, Coldplay, and U2.
Publication Date: September 1, 2006 Publisher: Orchard Books Author: · Tracy Mack · Michael Citrin Grade: A-
In the spirit of the Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series comes this new addition to the Sherlock Holmes legend from husband and wife team Tracy Mack and Michael Citrin. Told with a focus on the rag-tag gang of boys that got short shrift in the Doyle stories, the Baker Street Irregulars, the story is still a Holmes adventure, as seen from behind the scenes.
The tale opens with the death of a circus high-wire act. But what appears to have been an accident to Inspector Lestrade, Holmes sees as an ingenius murder. Further, there's a connection between the murder and the theft of an irreplacable and highly secret treasure from the Queen herself! When the leader of the Irregulars, Wiggins, sees the Prince of Wales enter the residence of 221 B Baker Street to enlist Sherlock Holmes, he knows it means there's a good chance that Holmes will be requesting his services, which means money for the gang!
Wiggins is right, of course, and soon he and the gang -- including Ozzie, the newest member who has yet to meet their observant employer. That changes, however, when the team returns from the circus grounds with information for the Master, and Ozzie and Holmes come face-to-face for the first time:
Holmes stepped up and examined Ozzie head to toe. "Wiggins, how long has he been with the gang?" he asked, still staring at Ozzie.
"Two or three months, sir."
"What is your name, lad?"
"Osgood Manning."
"And you are, let me guess, twelve years old."
"In a few weeks' time, sir."
"Hmm... and not from London. Oxfordshire, most likely."
"Yes, sir, Banbury."
Holmes studied Ozzie thoughtfully. "Does your boss, the scrivener, now that you wander the streets with the rest of the Irregulars?"
A deduction, Ozzie realized, emerging more fully from his reverie. Master had looked at him and, like magic, was able to tell who he was. Think, think, he pushed himself.
Holmes opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Ozzie blurted, "I find deductions very exciting, sir. If I may..."
Holmes nodded his consent, amusement playing at the corners of his mouth.
"My accent gave away where I grew up, and my hand, specifically the middle finger on my right hand," Ozzie said, offering up his calloused finger for closer examination, "reveals that I write quite a lot. Since I can write, I can obviously read. I speak more properly than my station would suggest. But from my dres and my association with the Irregulars, it is clear I am not affluent. Thus, in what situation would a young literate person of humble means find himself? A scrivener's apprentice. If you please, sir, am I correct?"
Watson's jaw dropped.
Ozzie is certainly the central character of this story, with mysteries of his own to solve -- a father, name and whereabouts unknown, and a great aunt whom he can't find to beg information out of. It's a mystery that is left unsolved, despite some out-of-place supernatural clues from the circus fortune teller, Madame Estrella, and her daughter Pilar, who adds her talents to those of the Irregulars.
There are a few drawbacks. Holmes does make a couple of mis-steps, which could be seen as a way of humanizing him to make the youths shine a bit brighter, but to which Holmesian devotees may take umbrage. Also, there's the strange case of the narrator who barked in the foreword. As Watson was made the chronicler of the Doyle stories, the teller of these tales wishes to remain anonymous, but slowly spells out a clue to his presence one letter per chapter; it's a fun conceit, except when one realizes that this character was not around for the bulk of the scenes to be able to relate them with such detail.
Nevertheless, this first volume of the Baker Street Irregulars is a welcome volume -- an enjoyable adventure that will no doubt serve as an introduction to the classic detective for a new generation of readers. The story shows Holmes using several of his additional skills, and includes a good bit of history and a glossary of the Cockney rhyming slang used throughout the tale. Lending authenticity to the story are the pencil illustrations by Greg Ruth (Goosebumps: Creepy Creatures), which makes the tale feel all the more as if it were lifted from a lost issue of The Strand.
