Eucalyptus Street: Green Curse

by Sherrill Marie Joseph

Overview

Kids, get ready to help your four heroes, the Botanic Hill Detectives, solve another mystery in Eucalyptus Street: Green Curse!

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 six 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!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781952112133
Publisher:	Acorn Publishing, Battle Creek, MI
Publication date:	11/14/2020
Series:	The Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries , #2
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.54(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

The mystery genre took hold of Sherrill Joseph as a fifth grader when she discovered Nancy Drew and Phyllis A. Whitney mysteries. Years later, it still hasn't let go. Graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's in education, Sherrill spent the next thirty-five years as a K-12 literacy teacher. When she retired from teaching in 2013, the Botanic Hill Detectives and their mysteries finally sprang to life. Forever inspired by her beautiful students in the San Diego public schools, the author has peopled and themed the Botanic Hill Detectives mysteries with children of various abilities, cultures, races, and interests. She strongly believes that embracing diversity is the key to a better world. She created her detectives to be mature, smart, polite role models that will appeal to parents, teachers, and kids, who seek to realize their greatest potential with confidence. Sherrill is a native San Diegan where she lives in a 1928 Spanish-style house in a historic neighborhood with her poodle-bichon rescue, Jimmy Lambchop. In addition to her dog, the city of San Diego, reading and writing, the author loves her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. She must also include dark chocolate, popcorn, old movies, the color purple, and daisies. Having never lived in a two-story house, she is naturally fascinated by staircases. She is a member of SCBWI, Blackbird Writers, Children's Literature Council of Southern California, and the Authors' Guild. She promises many more adventures with the squad to come. CONNECT WTH SHERRILL AND HER BOOKS HERE WWW.SHERRILLJOSEPH.COM And On Twitter @MysteryAuthor7, On Instagram @sherrilljosephauthor, On Facebook @BHDMysteriesAuthor On Pinterest @mysteryshewrote7

Table of Contents

The de Cordoba Family Tree

Chapter 1: A Mystery on Eucalyptus Street

Chapter 2: Emeralds and Ancestors

Chapter 3: Mysterious Footsteps

Chapter 4: The Puzzle Poem

Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening

Chapter 6: At the Root of It All

Chapter 7: Casita, Cathedral, and Cemetery

Chapter 8: Mud and More Paper

Chapter 9: Churchyard on the Third Floor

Chapter 10: Gemstones of Antiquity

Chapter 11: Down the Cellar Steps

Chapter 12: Going on a Lion Hunt

Chapter 13: What Sooty Walls Reveal

Chapter 14: Blueprints and Perches

Chapter 15: The Secret Room

Chapter 16: Exploring in the Dark

Chapter 17: Handy Work Above

Chapter 18: Up the Attic Stairs

Chapter 19: Aunt Connie Assists

Chapter 20: Lantern in the Churchyard

Chapter 21: Glittering Expose

Chapter 22: Clues from Old Hollywood

Chapter 23: The Key from St. Barnabas

Chapter 24: The Green-Eyed Monster

Chapter 25: It's a Wrap

A Brief History of Gemstones of Antiquity

Purported Uses of Gemstones of Antiquity

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Connect With the Author

Editorial Reviews

"GREEN CURSE is a spooky mystery that starts during a lightning storm in an empty mansion. The tension ratchets up, alluding to ghosts, vampires, tombstones, graves, and a scary old witch-like woman. There's a mystery within the mystery, multicultural characters, and interesting lore about gemstones of antiquity. My 12-year-old son and I finished this book in one day!"

--BEN GARTNER, author of The Eye of Ra series

"I really enjoyed reading this book and all the adventures to solve the mystery. Throughout the story, I found many ways to relate to the characters, especially to Rani. I can't wait to read another book in this series."

--AALIYAH K., age 10, McLean, VA

"This book was shocking, fun, and clever. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. One of the best books I have ever read!"

--LIAM M., age 11, Macungie, PA

"The Botanic Hill Detectives-Lexi, Moki, Lanny, and Rani-are on an intriguing quest to find a valuable emerald. This page-turner is sure to be a hit with its vivid descriptions, well-paced story line, and intriguing clues. Kids aged 9-12 will become quickly absorbed and anxiously await the next mystery in this series!"

-STACY ALFANO, 5th grade ELA teacher, Shoemaker Elementary School, Macungie, PA

"It's fun to read a story where kids like me are the heroes and solve mysteries. They are the coolest detectives! Rani and Lexi are especially brave and FIERCE! More mysteries, please!"

--VICTORIA G., age 10, Long Island, NY

"The cliffhangers at the end of some chapters had me reading on and wondering or predicting what would happen next. I also liked the story's unexpected twists and turns."

--VARUN R., age 11, Macungie, PA

From the Publisher