✨The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall (2023)

By Ali Standish

4Rbooks                                            5+/6                                        grades         5-8

Amazon                                              4.2/5                                       grade level   5-6

Goodreads                                       3.98/5          

Common Sense Media               Not yet reviewed

310 pages

Synopsis

             It seemed like a normal day for Arthur until he helped save a falling woman and her baby carriage which was almost run over. He didn’t know that one event was going to change his life. He lived with his parents and five sisters. His father was an artist who had trouble finding work.

            But the next day an invitation arrived for Arthur.  He had been selected to attend school at Baskerville Hall, a special school for gifted children. Would this be the chance to improve his life and the life of his family?

            He soon found himself on a balloon airship heading toward the new school. There he met new friends like Jimmy, Irene, Pocket, Glover, and Kipper plus enemies like Sebastian and Professor Grey. He was doing well in his lessons and was invited to join a secret society, Clover. The school was peculiar with strange classes, unique professors, and remarkable creatures. Everything seemed great until problems at the school started to arise like break-ins and explosions. Somebody has to solve these mysteries.

Parental Guidelines:    medium-low

Arthur’s father is an alcoholic and doesn’t provide for his family as he should.

There is a secret society in the school. They require applicants to go through initiation challenges that can be unethical and dangerous.

The society promises power after students finish and go into adult society.

Arthur steals a dinosaur egg from a professor.

An evil professor uses her machine as a fountain of youth.

Recommendation

            The author created an interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes stories by focusing on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author. She imagines a world where he solves the puzzles and becomes the inspiration for his famous character. The characters are familiar (Moriarty, Dr. Watson, Sherlock) but unique in this story. A background knowledge of Sherlock Holmes is not necessary to understand the book, but it does enhance the enjoyment of the story.

This is the first book in a three-part series. It has a plot with similarities to Harry Potter. A boy with unique talents is taken from his home to attend a special school with interesting classes and professors.  While there he learns of an evil and dark secret that he needs to solve. If you’ve never read Harry Potter, you won’t notice and will enjoy the story as it plays out.

Good story overall and I will look forward to reading the two sequels. I believe this book can be used as an individual read, group read, or classroom read. Average to advanced readers should have no problems.  Struggling readers might need some help.