Nancy Springer is a noted fantasy author, but here lately she’s been re-writing some of her -- and my -- favorite childhood characters. I’ve always been partial to that Outlaw of Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, but who knew he had a daughter? Nancy did. In fact, she’s written five novels about Rowan Hood and her merry band.

Morgan Le Fay has always been one of those strong woman, and evil, from Arthurian legend. But who knew her childhood stories? Nancy did. She wrote two featuring the young Morgan Le Fay.

When I think of private detectives, I always think of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Mycroft Holmes. But who knew that Sherlock and Mycroft had a younger sister? Nancy did. And she’s just now penning the curious adventures of Enola Holmes, the 14-year-old younger sister of the Great Detective.

I first met Miss Enola Holmes in the novel, Enola Holmes and the Case of the Missing Marquess. I found her to be utterly brilliant, like her older brothers, and quite given to solving mysteries. Her deductive reasoning is a delight, as is her particular views on society.

Regrettably, young Enola is not a proper young lady. She loves traipsing through forests, wearing men’s clothing, and having hideouts that require journeying through streams and across muddy earth. She’s also quite fearless and knowledgeable about a great many things.

The first-person narrative of the novels revealed a lot of Miss Holmes’s character to me within a few short pages. I found her to be, not so much a carbon copy of Sherlock Holmes, but rather a young lady with all of Sherlock’s best qualities who was also equipped with the vision of youth and feminine perspective.

There are a great many puzzles in Miss Holmes’s life. Not in the least of these is the reason why her mother abandoned Miss Holmes on the morning of her 14th birthday. As much as that bothered and stymied young Miss Holmes, it also burdened me with curiosity and speculation.

But Miss Holmes’s mother left many messages behind for her young daughter. They shared a passion for puzzles and curiosities. Miss Holmes’s first name, Enola, is actually "alone" spelled backward. Once you understand that, you begin to worry at what prompted her mother to name her such. The name, though, offers hints as to how to solve the other mysteries her mother left her. The interpretations are so obvious when the solution is given.