The Puzzling Pearls

The Puzzling Pearls
Author: Lisa Siberry
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2021-04-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1743587228

A dazzling, whip-smart mystery series about two very different girls and a whole heap of danger … Hannah Plum loves fashion, fun, and junk food. Patti Woo is obsessed with detective novels, lives in leggings, and is definitely not Hannah’s friend. But the two girls are stuck at the beachside Heartbreak Hotel together while Hannah’s dad and Patti’s mum are out birdwatching and – yuck! – falling in love. When a hotel guest’s beautiful pink wedding dress is stolen, Hannah is determined to get to the bottom of it. With a reluctant Patti in tow, the two girls are launched into an ever-deepening mystery. Why is a wedding planner sending secret signals to an unknown guest? Who’s leaving creepy wet diving relics in the hotel rooms? And could some long-lost, famous pink pearls be at the heart of it all? If Plum and Woo want to survive the summer, they’ll need to solve this mystery in style. But first, they’ll have to survive each other … In every Plum & Woo instalment, Hannah and Patti will investigate a surprising and sinister fashion mystery while also navigating their newly blending family. Brimming with fun, danger and highly relatable tween angst, this series is perfect for 9+!

A Puzzle in Pearls

A Puzzle in Pearls
Author: John Creasey
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2024-12-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504098005

A stolen necklace has British detective Patrick Dawlish running in circles to find the culprit in this classic Golden Age mystery. A famous jewel thief has struck again, stealing a fortune of gems from Lord Hillmorton and kidnapping his daughter to ensure his silence. But there’s one man to call when there are no other options: Patrick Dawlish. Hot in pursuit, Dawlish, his wife, and Cedric Forbes find themselves caught between a notorious gang of thieves and a quirky family who may or may not have their own part to play in the crime. As a strand of valuable pearls changes hands, it’s up to Dawlish to orchestrate a plan to root out the fakes from the genuine article—and bring the innocent home alive . . .

The Pearls of Lutra

The Pearls of Lutra
Author: Brian Jacques
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2012-12-31
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1448171946

The ninth book in the beloved, bestselling Redwall saga - soon to be a major Netflix movie! Far away, on the isle of Sampetra, the evil Emperor Ublaz sends his lizard army on a murderous mission to Redwall. Meanwhile, Tansy the hedgehog and her fellow Abbey dwellers race against time to unravel the fiendishly difficult riddles leading to six rose-coloured gems - the Pearls of Lutra.

Crown of Coral and Pearl

Crown of Coral and Pearl
Author: Mara Rutherford
Publisher: Harlequin
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2019-08-27
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1488038880

“A fabulous interweaving of fantasy, politics, and sisterhood—this unusual, tense tale will have you on the edge of your seat!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce Red Queen meets House of Salt and Sorrow in Mara Rutherford's debut YA fantasy Crown of Coral and Pearl, which follows a young woman from a village on the sea who must impersonate her twin on land to save everyone she loves from a tyrannical prince. For generations, the crown princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. Nor once dreamed of seeing the mysterious mountain kingdom for herself, but after a childhood accident left her with a scar, she knew her twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the crown prince. Then Zadie is injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. She soon discovers her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, Prince Talin, Nor learns of a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen...and a plot to destroy her village. To save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules...but discovering her own formidable strength may cost her everything she loves. Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

The Brilliant Ideas of Lily Green

The Brilliant Ideas of Lily Green
Author: Lisa Siberry
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2019-08-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1743586345

A dash of Judy Blume, a spoonful of secrets and a whole lot of fun get mixed up in this big-hearted debut by Ampersand Prize-winning author Lisa Siberry. Twelve-year-old Lily Green’s life is falling apart. Her best friend, Violet, is more interested in the latest shade of lip gloss than hanging out. Her enemy, Zoe, is determined to beat Lily in the school science competition – and win Violet’s friendship, too. Worst of all, Lily's precious family beauty salon – the last connection she has to her dad – has hit hard times, and her mum has decided to sell it. When Lily accidentally mixes up a string of wild and wonderful beauty products from the mysterious plants in her neighbour’s garden, she thinks she’s found the perfect way to save the salon – and get her best friend back. But are her inventions as beautiful as she thinks? And when things start turning … ugly … can Lily find the real ‘secret ingredient’ that will save the salon, seal her friendships, and win the school science competition? Beautifully written and full of warmth, this captivating middle-grade novel explores family, friendship and the true meaning of beauty. Shortlisted for the 2020 ABDA Best Designed Children's Fiction and the 2020 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year

Basic Black With Pearls

Basic Black With Pearls
Author: Helen Weinzweig
Publisher: New York Review of Books
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2018-04-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1681372177

A brilliant, lost feminist classic that is equal parts domestic drama and international intrigue. Shirley and Coenraad’s affair has been going on for decades, but her longing for him is as desperate as ever. She is a Toronto housewife; he works for an international organization known only as the Agency. Their rendezvous take place in Tangier, in Hong Kong, in Rome and are arranged by an intricate code based on notes slipped into issues of National Geographic. He recognizes her by her costume: a respectable black dress and string of pearls; his appearance, however, is changeable. But something has happened, the code has been discovered, and Coenraad sends Shirley (who prefers to be known as “Lola Montez”) to Toronto, the last place she wants to go. There the trail leads her through the sites of her impoverished immigrant childhood and sends her, finally, to her own house, where she discards her pearls and trades in her basic black for a dress of vibrant multicolored silk. Helen Weinzweig published her first novel when she was fifty-eight. Basic Black with Pearls, her second, won the Toronto Book Award and has since come to be recognized as a feminist landmark. Here Weinzweig imbues the formal inventiveness of the nouveau roman with psychological poignancy and surprising humor to tell a story of simultaneous dissolution and discovery.

Pearls Awaits the Tide

Pearls Awaits the Tide
Author: Stephan Pastis
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2021-11-23
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 152487664X

Prepare to get swept up in a tidal wave of hilarity, sarcasm, and atrocious puns courtesy of award-winning Pearls Before Swine cartoonist Stephan Pastis. For the past 20 years, Pearls Before Swine has been one of the most popular and consistently hilarious comic strip in newspapers. This treasury packs in 18 months' worth of daily comic strips from 2018-2019, including an introduction, essay, and special commentary by the author.

The Suspicious Scarf

The Suspicious Scarf
Author: Lisa Siberry
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
Total Pages: 157
Release: 2021-07-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1743587333

Nancy Drew and The Parent Trap come together in this bright, funny and clever middle-grade mystery series with a stylish twist! For fans of Friday Barnes and Ruby Redfort. Hannah Plum and Patti Woo are staying in a creepy, rundown chalet in the Shadow Mountains National Park, where Patti's aunt Unjoo works as a ranger. The girls' parents are keen to spot an ice owl there, but soon, they're all out looking for Unjoo's stolen dog instead. The only clue is a bit of silver wool on a kennel, and Plum & Woo sense the markings of a crime.​​ With rumours of a terrifying silver wolf snapping at their heels, the girls investigate – at their peril. Who's trying to push them off a ski slope? Is something wicked hiding in the woods? Could a silver scarf be the key to the dog's disappearance? And is Hannah’s new friend – from the local lolly shop – really as sweet as he looks?​​ Hannah and Patti will need to keep their fur-trimmed boots fastened if they’re going to survive this chilling bird-watching holiday. Well, that’s if they can survive the woods (and each other) first ... In every Plum & Woo instalment, Hannah and Patti will investigate a surprising and sinister fashion mystery while also navigating their newly blending family. Brimming with fun, danger and highly relatable tween angst, this series is perfect for readers aged 9+!

The Jumbo Book of Japanese Puzzles

The Jumbo Book of Japanese Puzzles
Author: The Puzzle Society
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2008-05
Genre: Games & Activities
ISBN: 0740771299

We are living in puzzling's golden age right now." --Will Shortz, New York Times A colossal assortment of the six most popular Japanese puzzles--Sudoku, Sodoku X, Kakuro, Masyu, Hitori, and Nurikabe--ranging in difficulty from gentle to diabolical. A collection of four hundred puzzles-six different types of mind-bending games-ranging in difficulty levels so that players of every level will be challenged. Features include a complete answer key along with short, illustrated tutorials for each game-which proves particularly useful for the less familiar challenges, including: * Hitori: The ultimate logic teaser. Begin with a complete Sudoku grid and the object is to "paint" out blocks so that no number appears twice in any row or column. * Masyu: A charming but sophisticated invention where you are required to "string" black-and-white "pearls" with a series of vertical and horizontal lines that form a continuous loop. * Nurikabe: Beginning with a grid of squares scattered with numbers seemingly placed at random, the idea is to paint the black squares to make walls, leaving patches of white behind.

The Pearl Thief

The Pearl Thief
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2017-05-04
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1484719514

Don’t miss Elizabeth Wein’s stunning new novel, Stateless Before Verity . . . there was Julie. When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she'd imagined won't be exactly what she anticipated. And once she returns to her grandfather's estate, a bit banged up but alive, she begins to realize that her injury might not have been an accident. One of her family's employees is missing, and he disappeared on the very same day she landed in the hospital. Desperate to figure out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scottish Traveler boy who found her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister, Ellen. As Julie grows closer to this family, she witnesses firsthand some of the prejudices they've grown used to-a stark contrast to her own upbringing-and finds herself exploring thrilling new experiences that have nothing to do with a missing-person investigation. Her memory of that day returns to her in pieces, and when a body is discovered, her new friends are caught in the crosshairs of long-held biases about Travelers. Julie must get to the bottom of the mystery in order to keep them from being framed for the crime. This exhilarating coming-of-age story, a prequel to the Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity, returns to a beloved character just before she first takes flight.