Synopsis
A missing diamond, a mysterious neighbor, a link to Shakespeare—can Hero uncover the connections?
Janis Flint-Ferguson - KLIATT
Hero Netherfield is entering the sixth grade in a new town and a new school. Her father has just recently taken a job at the Maxwell Library and the family has a new home; Hero just wishes she didn't have to start the whole process of learning to fit in again, especially with a name like Hero. Both she and her 8th-grade sister Beatrice have been named for the women in Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing. (Their father is a Shakespearean scholar and met their mother in a Shakespeare class.) Hero meets the older woman who lives next door, Miriam Roth, who shares the story of a missing diamond and a missing daughter with Hero. Quite accidentally, Nero becomes friends with the police chief's son who also knows Mrs. Roth and about the missing diamond. He happens to be the coolest boy in his sister's grade. Together they look at clues—a quote from Dylan Thomas, a picture of a necklace belonging to Anne Boleyn, and the mystery of who wrote the Shakespearean plays. The clues lead them to the lights in Nero's home and a late-night search when no one is around. The diamond is found, and so is the lost daughter of their friend, Mrs. Roth. The mystery is well developed, with historical details about William Shakespeare, Edward de Vere and Queen Elizabeth I. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2005, Henry Holt, 256p., Ages 12 to 15.