• Age: 13 to 18
• Grade: 9 to 12
• Reading age: 13 to 18

In an alternate 1899, farm boy Solomon Hunt leaves home after his father’s death to seek income for his family, only to stumble into the adventure of a lifetime when he rescues a young genius showman from captivity in a sideshow.

Together, the duo flee across the terrifying, entertainment-obsessed Empire of America, performing for a living while evading a group of vicious pursuers led by Leonard J. Coop, who not only dominates the Empire through his circus-like extravaganzas, but seeks to be president too.

From Buffalo to New Orleans, Denver to Los Angeles, and everywhere in between, Solomon befriends and recruits diverse young performers trapped in shows, including a human cannonball, a giant acrobat, a blues musician, an outlaw gunslinger, a talking gorilla, and more. As Coop closes in and vile secrets are revealed, the ragtag troupe reaches little Hollywood, California, where they present an explosive, groundbreaking performance intended to save them all.

Shane Peacock is a novelist, playwright, journalist, and television screenwriter. His first book was a biography of the spectacular Canadian personality “The Great Farini,” his plays have been produced by the acclaimed 4th Line Theatre, and his documentaries have included Team Spirit, aired on the CTV national network. His best-selling series for young adults, The Boy Sherlock Holmes, has been published in ten countries in twelve languages and has found its way onto more than forty shortlists. It won, among other honors, the prestigious Violet Downey Award, The Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction, the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award, a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Gold Medal, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction and The Libris Award. Each novel was also named a Junior Library Guild of America Premier Selection. The Ottawa Citizen said of the series, “More than just right, dazzlingly right for teen readers, is a new series by Ontario writer Shane Peacock. The vitality of Peacock’s creation of Sherlock is so inspired it feels like the writer is possessed, channeling Sherlock’s spirit.”

Shane Peacock's profile page