Wat-son Up!?
Sherlock Holmes Day is celebrated on May 22 which also marks Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 160th birthday this year. Doyle is best known for creating Sherlock Holmes, one of literature’s most famous sleuths! Since his creation, Sherlock Holmes has captivated audiences of all ages and from a variety of adaptations - books, graphic novels, theatre, film, television, and even videogames.
With there being so very many different versions of the iconic character, the ways of celebrating this day are virtually unlimited. Regardless of who your favorite Hollywood celebrities are, you are sure to find someone you love breathing new life into the Sherlock Holmes character. From Sir Ian McKellen to Robert Downey Jr., to Christopher Lee, Benedict Cumberbatch and dozens of others, there are more than enough screen-versions of Sherlock Holmes to choose from.
Or if you're like me and enjoy reading and have already read Doyle's wonderful stories, I've compiled a list of the best YA Sherlock Holmes retellings and read-a-likes that will inspire your inner detective. The game is afoot, my dear readers!
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
Far from his London home, Jamie Watson is still adjusting to his Connecticut boarding school, Sherrington, when he meets Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-granddaughter of the famed detective. Is it pure coincidence, or is something else afoot? When one of their fellow students is murdered, Watson is drawn into the peculiarly compelling and idiosyncratic Holmes’ orbit. The two work together to clear their names, all the while fearing for their very lives.
Every Breath by Ellie Marney
Rachel Watts has just moved to Melbourne and James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguing and troubled seventeen-year-old genius with a passion for forensics. Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. And when Watts and Mycroft follow a trail to the cold-blooded killer, they find themselves in the lion's den - literally. A night at the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again.
The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason
Reluctantly at first, Mina Holmes, the teenage niece of Sherlock Holmes, and Evaline Stoker, the teenage sister of Bram Stoker, combine their sleuthing and hand-to-hand combat talents to find out why society girls are turning up dead. As the pair infiltrates opium dens, pubs, society balls, and seedy criminal lairs, they discover that a secret society based on Egyptology is at the heart of the bad business. As the teens get closer to the truth, they get closer to being counted among those killed.
Jackaby by William Ritter
Newly arrived in 1892 New England, Abigail Rook becomes assistant to R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with the ability to see supernatural beings, and she helps him delve into a case of serial murder which, Jackaby is convinced, is due to a nonhuman creature.
Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty
In modern-day London, sixteen-year-old Miss James "Mori" Moriarty is looking for an escape from her recent past and spiraling home life when she takes classmate Sherlock Holmes up on his challenge to solve a murder mystery.
Death Cloud by Andy Lane
In 1868, with his army officer father suddenly posted to India, and his mother mysteriously "unwell," fourteen-year-old Sherlock Holmes is sent to stay with his eccentric uncle and aunt in their vast house in Hampshire, where he uncovers his first murder and a diabolical villain.
Further Reading
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