THE ADVENTURES OF THE FLASH GANG

An orphaned boy in 1930s Pittsburgh faces new dangers and challenges in a continuing series.

Street kid Lewis “Brain” Carter, age 12, and his ragtag Flash Gang first appeared in the launch of Downing and Waugh’s middle-grade fiction series, The Adventures of the Flash Gang: Episode One: Exploding Experiment (2023). Set amid Dickensian realities of poverty and injustice in Depression-era Pittsburgh, it was an impressive debut, offering a smart mix of action and suspense with relatable young characters going up against ruthless moguls, murderers, kidnappers, mobsters, and Nazi sympathizers. In this satisfying sequel, the plot expands and deepens as the stakes are raised even higher for Lewis, who’s now hunkered down in his derelict factory hideout with his kid crew: Duck, Mac, and his best friend, Pearl Alice Clavell, who’s still emulating Lola Lavender, the intrepid hero of her favorite radio show. They’re presumed dead, but their hope that they’ll be able avoid their powerful enemies—including corrupt millionaire Pickering, his murderous henchman Scrugg, and Pearl’s cruel, scheming Aunt Gimlick—is quickly dashed. The malevolent trio have stopped at nothing in their quest to obtain the recipe for a flash-bang explosive that Lewis used as a harmless distraction to steal food for survival. Now, Lewis can’t risk using the flash-bangs that “had made him, only a year before, the most notorious and mysterious food thief in all of Pittsburgh”; as a result, he’s less able to feed himself and others. After Scrugg is released from prison swearing vengeance, questions of loyalty and betrayal threaten the Flash Gang’s solidarity. Also, orphaned street kids are disappearing for a chilling reason, Pearl’s famous, long-absent father returns, and Lewis’ plan to expose criminal behavior in high places, even with the help of a sympathetic reporter, may be impossible.

The authors once again portray Lewis’ world with historical authenticity; they turn real events into compelling plot points as protesting steel workers clash with company thugs, Pittsburgh’s devastating St. Patrick’s Day flood of 1936 is unleashed, and Nazi Germany–inspired fascist groups take root in 1930s America. But these real-life elements don’t compromise the inventive, fictional flow or readers’ ability to relate to the main characters, who act and react according to their own believable personal quirks, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Peripheral players, too, take on more dimension this time around; for example, hard-nosed 15-year-old Dwight, who manages “a battalion of streeters,” proves that he’s more than just a shill for mob boss Fat Joe when he plays a key role in a daring rescue effort. The desire by many of the seemingly self-sufficient, impoverished youth to be cared for by a real family—even as they form found families of their own—is a poignant undercurrent. The book ends, as the first one did, with a suspenseful preview of what’s to come, and it’s a jaw-dropper, with a shocking revelation that will send Lewis and Pearl on a voyage to a deadly destination that neither of them could have imagined.

This newest entry in a dynamic, character-rich middle-grade fiction series doesn’t disappoint.