To celebrate the release of the next exciting book in the Botanic Hill Detectives mystery series, Eucalyptus Street: Green Curse is going on tour!
We have an excerpt for you to read and a chance to win a signed, personalized paperback copy of the book, and some matching book swag!
Eucalyptus Street: Green Curse
Publication Date: October 20, 2020 (Today
Genre: MG Mystery/ Middle Grade
(For fans of Nancy Drew type mysteries)
In 1945, Isabela de Cordoba’s great-grandfather, the famous silent movie actor Lorenzo de Cordoba, mysteriously hid a legendary, multimillion-dollar emerald somewhere on the family’s sprawling Eucalyptus Street estate. Seventy years later, the gem remains concealed. Nicknamed the “Green Curse,” the emerald is blamed for the Southern California familia’s numerous, untimely deaths.
On her twenty-first birthday, Isabela receives a secret letter with a cryptic poem. These documents from the long-deceased Lorenzo invite her to hunt for the gemstone. But first, she must decipher the poem’s eight stanzas for clues.
To assist, Isabela hires her thirteen-year-old neighbors, the four Botanic Hill Detectives—twins Lanny and Lexi Wyatt, and their best friends, Moki Kalani and Rani Kumar. Eerie footsteps inside the mansion, unexplained occurrences in the adjacent cemetery, and the mysterious tenant in the backyard casita challenge them. But they ingeniously make progress on the poem’s meaning with startling discoveries. Sliding wall panels, a secret room, and hidden passages reveal much. The detectives aren’t the only ones looking for the emerald. The perilous race for the de Cordoba treasure is on!
Add to Goodreads
Excerpt
Lanny is awakened at four a.m. by the sound of footsteps coming from the room overhead. He and Moki head to the third floor to explore:
Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness. Lanny pointed to the door of the suspected room and flashed Moki an A-OK sign. They turned off their flashlights, noticing the room’s door was slightly ajar, and listened for any sounds. Nothing but the mournful “who-who” sound of the resident barn owl in the old magnolia tree outside. They waited two more minutes, shivering and wishing they hadn’t forgotten their bathrobes and slippers. Still no sounds came from the room. Even the owl became silent. Moki felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Finally, Lanny pushed the door open slightly and slipped into the room. Moki followed.
Available in paperback and for Kindle!
About the Author
Sherrill Joseph will be forever inspired by her beautiful students in the San Diego public schools where she taught for thirty-five years before retiring and becoming a published author.
She has peopled and themed the Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries with children and adult characters of various abilities, races, cultures, and interests. Sherrill strongly believes that children need to find not only themselves in books but others from different races and social situations if all are to become tolerant, anti-racist world citizens.
In addition, the author created her detectives—patterned after her own fifth-grade students and twelve-year-old twin cousins—to be mature, smart, polite role models that will appeal to parents, teachers, but especially to kids who seek to realize their greatest potential with courage and self-respect.
Sherrill is a lexical-gustatory synesthete and native San Diegan where she lives in a 1928 Spanish-style house in a historic neighborhood with her poodle-bichon mix, Jimmy Lambchop. Other loves include her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. She can’t leave out dark chocolate, popcorn, old movies, purple, and daisies. Having never lived in a two-story house, she is naturally fascinated by staircases. Sherrill is a member of SCBWI and the Authors Guild and promises many more adventures with the squad to come.
Sherrill Joseph | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Giveaway:
2 lucky winners will receive a signed, personalized paperback copy of the book, and some matching book swag (US only this time)! Giveaway will be open until October 31st!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog Tour Schedule
October 26th
Reads & Reels (Spotlight) http://readsandreels.com
@the.b00kreader (Review) https://www.instagram.com/the.b00kreader
The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com
Jennifer Mitchell, Bibliolater (Spotlight) https://www.jennifermitchellbooks.com
October 27th
Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com
Didi Oviatt (Spotlight) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com
On the Shelf Reviews (Spotlight) https://ontheshelfreviews.wordpress.com
Rambling Mads (Spotlight) http://ramblingmads.com
Sophril Reads (Spotlight) http://sophrilreads.wordpress.com
October 28th
LauraLoopyLou (Review) https://www.loopyloulaura.com/
Stine Writing (Review) https://christinebialczak.com/
Banshee Irish Horror Blog (Spotlight) www.bansheeirishhorrorblog.com
October 29th
The Consulting Writer (Spotlight) https://theconsultingwriter.wordpress.com
Tsarina Press (Spotlight) https://www.tsarinapress.com
Book Dragons Not Worms (Spotlight) https://bookdragonsnotworms.blogspot.com/?m=1
October 30th
Lunarian Press (Interview) https://www.lunarianpress.com/
Meli’s Book Reviews (Review) https://melisbokreviews.wordpress.com/
Rosie Writes (Spotlight) http://rosemariecawkwell.wordpress.com
Blog Tour Organized By:
An author and friend of mine recently released another book that you should check out. It is called The Little Breadwinner: War and Survival in the Salvadoran Heartland by Lucia Mann.
Synopsis: FROM 1980 TO 1992, A TURBULENT CIVIL WAR ravaged the Central American state of El Salvador, claiming the lives of approximately 75,000 Salvadorans. The Little Breadwinner is a story of tyrannized, frightened families—mostly poor peasants, indigenous peoples, and child farm workers—whose lives signified nothing to the military death squads.
Lucia Mann, who was in El Salvador at the time, recalls this vivid historical portrait of human rights violations during and after the “dirty” war between the military-led government and left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. This brutal conflict was backed politically, economically, and militarily by the United States with CIA involvement.
Throughout these pages, you will experience intense trials of courageous survival with unforgettable characters who yearn for peace, justice, and normalcy. One of the brave women you will meet is Estella Godwin Lozano (a Waorani tribe descendant of the Amazon rain forest), who suffered terribly before her brutal demise in Laredo, Texas in 2019. She was a “little person” who became traumatically affected by the abuse perpetrated by National Guard soldiers outside her pueblo home. She heroically joined the Sandinistas (Cuban-backed guerillas) to seek revenge upon the villains of her country.
Thank you to our Patreon Supporters:
- Christine (https://purplemanatees.org)
- Chris Connors (https://thisandthatbooksca.wordpress.com)
- Zayne (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLRPnDtFekKomHLYmIdHDDg)
Get your name/blog added to our blog posts and Youtube videos by supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/breakevenbooks
I saw this challenge on Elliot Brooks’ channel and knew that I had to do it! It’s called the Blindfold Book Cover Challenge! And it was featuring my parents since they were visiting over the weekend. Hope you enjoy it! Check out the video below:
Thank you for spotlighting my book at Breakeven Books! So appreciated.
No problem!