My Big Helper is a freshman in high school now, and finding good books for her to read with her friends – who range in age by a few years on either side of that – has been increasingly tricky. I look for challenging yet interesting stories in a variety of genres, and oddly, mystery stories have been especially difficult to find – at least until I found Death Cloud.
A book named Death Cloud may not seem the type to have a positive message, but it’s a fascinating story on many levels! Written by Andrew Lane, this book is the first in a series about Sherlock Holmes as a teenager. It’s also the only book (series) approved by the family of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – and with the wealth of Sherlock spin-offs out there, that says something.
Death Cloud is a YA book for obvious reasons. It includes fights, death, murder, weapons, first crushes, and more, but it does not glorify the violence. Instead it concentrates on the ways that young Sherlock defends himself and his friends against it, on the lessons that he learns from his mentor, and the ways that he takes a stand for what he believes is right. There are moral and ethical dilemmas within that make for great discussion, and the vocabulary alone makes for a challenging read.
Best of all, though, Lane nails the essence of the famous detective. He proves that even at the age of fourteen he has the ability to make amazing observations and enough scientific knowledge to draw wise conclusions from them. These situations make the reader want to cheer Sherlock on and propel the reader through the story.
For all of these reasons, I was excited to choose Death Cloud as our book club pick for February. We started out by discussing the story and many of the ethical dilemmas within. Is it ever okay to lie? Does truth ever trump obedience? To what lengths should you go to defend yourself? Your friends? What is a friend?
I was really excited about our second activity – an escape room! My kids love to pit themselves against characters from their favorite stories, so I created an escape room-style challenge based on this book.
With only four girls in attendance that day, they opted not to split up but to solve the puzzles together. I love seeing how happy they are to stick together!
Although it was February, the weather was mild, so we held our meeting outside. One puzzle required the pieces to be hidden, so I hid them around our yard for the girls to find.
After collecting all the pieces, they moved to the deck, where they worked to put together all the pieces. In the end, they were able to solve the whole thing – but just a few minutes late!
Finally, as marionettes play a role in the story, the girls each crafted her own. They brought long-limbed stuffed animals from the local dollar store and used craft sticks and string to create a simple puppet.
It was a lot of fun, easy to do, and they each got great results!
I really enjoyed making the escape room challenge for Death Cloud, and so I’ve added it to my TpT store here. It’s completely printable and utilizes skills and information from the story. There’s a vocabulary challenge, math puzzles, a bee puzzle, literary elements from Charge of the Light Brigade, and more. Check it out!
What are you reading right now? Do your students like escape rooms? Let me know in the comments!
