Lantern Sam and the Blue Streak Bandits is a mystery that will keep the reader guessing to the very end.



Ten-year-old Henry Shipley figured aboard The Lake Erie Shoreliner in depression era, year 1937. Henry is accompanied by his mother and little sister on their way to New York City. Suddenly he is also accompanied by two very different people. The first is a perky girl his age named Ellie Strasbourg who came from money and could talk a mile a minute. The second wasn’t a person at all, rather it was a calico cat named Lantern Sam who could talk and share his thoughts with a few select humans, Henry being one of them. Just as amazing as it is for a cat who has the ability to communicate, Lantern Sam also happens to be one of the greatest detectives, and a detective is exactly what Henry needs after finding himself at the center of a mystery.

The Crime: Ellie Strasbourg has gone missing aboard the Lake Erie Shoreliner, and the kidnappers are demanding a very valuable necklace, the Blue Streak, for her safe return.

The Suspects:

· Judge Ambrose: The local law enforcement on the Shoreliner. Is he on the up and up?

· Reverend Perfiddle: The holy man whose holiness may be called into question.

· Mrs. Perfiddle: Pregnant, yet seems particularly a little too lively for someone so close to giving birth.

· Mrs. Strasbourg: Ellie’s mom

· Julia: The Strasbourg’s maid

· The traveling salesman: His large suitcase full of samples that has conveniently gone missing

· The gossip columnist: She seems to know an awful lot about everyone.

· The man and woman in dark glasses: Why are they on the train?

Now it’s up to Henry, Lantern Sam and conductor Clarence Nockwood to figure out who the kidnappers are, where they’ve hidden Ellie.

Lantern Sam and the Blue Streak Bandits
by Michael D. Beil

Publication Date: April 8, 2014
Genres: Children (Ages 8-10), Children (Ages 9-12), Mystery, Noir, Youth Fiction
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0385753179
ISBN-13: 9780385753173 ( )