Secrets of the Purple Pearl

by Kate McKinnon

Overview

The greatest adventures start with secrets.

The Porch Sisters are in trouble.

It’s summertime in Antiquarium, and everyone has flocked to the majestic lakeside Purple Pearl Hotel, including the Krenetics Research Association, a nefarious group of mad scientists. They haven’t given up on resurrecting their fearsome leader, Talon Sharktūth, and now they’re hot on the trail of the legendary Purple Pearl, a source of power that is rumored to be lost at the bottom of Lake Kagloopy. 

But Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee are on to them, plus their mentor, Millicent Quibb, has a plan! Is it a good plan? Hard to say! But it does involve finding a mysterious creature called a Shrimpmaid, boiling the lake (and everything inside it), and retrieving the pearl before the KRA gets its evil hands on it!

While Millicent and the gang work together to prevent the second coming of Talon Sharktūth, the sisters discover more secrets than they bargained for—including where they came from and who they truly are...

This is one mad-science summer vacation they’ll never forget!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316555296
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/30/2025
Series:	The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science , #2
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.05(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kate McKinnon is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, award-winning performer, and writer, who is celebrated globally for her work in film and television. Young readers will recognize her voice role as ‘Ms. Frizzle’ in The Magic School Bus Rides Again for Netflix. She recently played ‘Weird Barbie’ in Greta Gerwig’s worldwide blockbuster hit, Barbie. The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science was her debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2025-07-19
In a race against their enemies, the Porch girls must find a peculiar pearl in order to foil a fiendish plot.

After defeating a monstrous Kyrgalops inThe Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science (2024), Gertrude, Eugenia, and Dee-Dee Porch find themselves (after a series of madcap events) at Lake Kagloopy’s Purple Pearl Hotel with their mentor, Millicent Quibb. Quibb informs the trio that they must find the titular pearl before the members of their evil mad-scientist rivals, the KRA, do. If they fail, the KRA (whose members include the malevolent mayor, Majestina DeWeen, and her slimy sycophantic lawyer, Ashley Cookie) plans to use the gem to bestow the Gift of Endless Vibrancy on the villainous Talon Sharktūth. Hilarity ensues as the Porches attend the annual Shrimp Ball, encounter Umbrella Turkeys, search for Cloudite (floating cloud rocks), and don invisible but smelly woolen coats. Jokes aside, the girls’ story is intriguing, offering more clues to their mysterious backgrounds and tantalizing tidbits promising later adventures. McKinnon offers bountiful backstory (alongside a running joke to encourage readers to pick up the preceding volume) and enough guffaw-inducing jokes, zany footnotes, and creative jargon to enthrall readers both new and old with her delightful sophomore effort. Mixing humor, found family, and well-wrought worldbuilding, this sequel is a certain crowd pleaser. Final art not seen; in the previous book, the grayscale illustrations showed the girls with varying skin tones.

Unforgettably quirky, fast-paced fun. (appendices)(Adventure. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews