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EBOOK TITLE: The January Green and Gold Mystery
GENRE: teen mystery, teen fiction
AUTHOR: Geeta Kakade
AVAILABLE FILE FORMATS: HHTML for the standard computer, Rocket reader for the Rocket eBook reader device, MS Reader for the PC and Pocket PC, FUB for eBookMan, Mobipocket for Palm Pilot, Pocket PC, and eBookMan, and KML for hiebook

"THE JANUARY GREEN AND GOLD MYSTERY has great cast of characters, and not just the club members. The book introduces some of the most interesting people I've ever read. I'd love to see a sequel so I could revisit them all again. Don't miss it!" Reviewed by Amanda for The Word on Romance "It was a delightful young adult's mystery with good characterization, and a realistic portrayal of young adults in the making. I am looking forward to their next adventure." Reviewed by Sandy Cummins of the Australian Christian Freelance Writer Homepage, 4 STARS "Kakade tackles themes of peer pressure, alienation and bigotry toward different races and ethnic groups by interweaving teens from different backgrounds united in the common goal of solving a mystery. As the teens learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, they learn to accept each other for whom they really are, not who they pretend to be." Reviewed by Melanie C. Duncan of ForeWord Magazine

DESCRIPTION: The super-sleuth: Bethany Graham: Beth lives with her mother, Bridget Graham, a single parent. A loner, precocious, "almost fourteen", as she keeps telling everyone, Beth is very sensitive about her height and size (she feels she's built like Fort Knox). A computer whiz and a word collector, she loves reading. Beth is very close to her mother, but there are times when she wishes Bridget would remember that they live in a democracy. How could Mama arrange an after school Math tutor for Beth, without even discussing the matter with her first? Worst of all, the tutor she's picked is their neighbor's mother from India. When the other kids see Mrs. Naidu in her sari, they are going to die laughing; and Beth's going to die from embarrassment. Desperate to have company in her misery, and to keep word about her strange tutor from spreading, Bethany tells Cody, her good friend, that she and Mrs. Naidu have formed a secret "Mystery-Solving Club". Gullible Cody begs to join "the club." Soon all of Bethany's friends are members. Then, out of the blue, a burglary occurs nearby that no one can solve, and all of the tutoring group work together, with the help of Mrs. Naidu, to figure it out. Geeta Kakade is a writer with considerable experience who writes a flowing, likable piece with a variety of characters. Mrs. Naidu is especially believable, as the logical 'sleuth' behind the teens' snooping. She is their inspiration and their guide. For a book that will appeal to a wide variety of ethnic groups and types of readers, this mystery is a fun read, and teaches a bit about cooperation and persistence! This book makes an excellent addition to our new ByteMe Line of books for teen-readers. We are hoping for a sequel soon!

Usual nonsale price is $4.99

Excerpt: The next afternoon came around too soon. Lexi had a note from her mother so the bus driver let her off at our stop. Lexi wasn't in a good mood because I'd scored a B in the Math test and she'd gotten a C. Lexi hated anyone who did better than her at anything. She'd picked on my shoes and clothes during recess, asking me very pointedly where Mom and I shopped. Then she and Marge Conrad had looked at each other and snickered. It's a good thing I have a strong mind. If my life depended on Lexi's approval, I'd always be miserable. I wasn't in a very good mood though. Another two hours of Lexi would have me tied up in knots. We could see Mrs. Naidu walking up the drive as we headed for my house. My stomach plummeted. "Why is she coming over?" Lexi asked. The bored note in her voice made me say as calmly as I could. "She gets lonely, so she visits me and we talk." Lexi senses nervousness the way a shark senses blood. Her green eyes narrowed as she looked at me. "She's your baby sitter?" The high and mighty smile on her face made me say very quickly. "She's not. She's going to help me with Math."

"Is too." Lexi turned to face me, and kept walking backwards chanting, "Beth's got a baby-sitter. Beth's got a baby-sitter." Rage, black and hot, boiled up in me. The urge to push her over was so strong, my hands were clenched into fists. Any minute now Cody would join in and I wouldn't be able to recover lost ground. "She's not my baby-sitter," I yelled. "She comes over to talk." "Oh really? And what do you talk about?" Lexi sounded exactly like her mother. Snippy and cold. "Gandhi?" It was like being in a car on a steep downhill road. I had to step on the brakes really quick. "If you must know, Mrs. Naidu is tutoring me in Math. Besides that, we're working on solving a mystery." "What?" Lexi stopped dead in her tracks and stared at me.

I felt a squiggle of satisfaction squirt up through the red hot fear. "Mrs. Naidu lives in a palace in India and she has real tigers and lions and elephants as pets," Cody added. "Sez who?" Lexi demanded. "She helped the Maharajah find his ruby ring." Now Cody sounded smug. "Na.ah!" Lexi said, unable to believe I would be lucky enough to know someone who'd helped a Maharajah. "Ask her," Cody challenged as we stood there. "There she is." I closed my eyes as they rushed towards my house. Drowning in lies wasn't my idea of a good death. I touched the tip of my nose too. By my estimation, it should have grown a foot by now.

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