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  • Published: 4 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781623543730
  • Imprint: Charlesbridge Children
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $32.99

The Golden Necklace

A Darjeeling Tea Mystery

  • Mitali Perkins




National Book Award nominee Mitali Perkins crafts a contemporary chapter-book mystery about a 12-year-old Nepali girl who sets out to solve the disappearance of her Bengali friend's missing jewelry.

Set within a tea plantation in Darjeeling, 7-10-year-old readers are transported across the world to a politically and culturally rich setting, following our brave heroine, Sona.

National Book Award nominee Mitali Perkins crafts a contemporary chapter-book mystery about a 12-year-old Nepali girl who sets out to solve the disappearance of her Bengali friend's missing jewelry.

Set within a tea plantation in Darjeeling, 7-10-year-old readers are transported across the world to a politically and culturally rich setting, following our brave heroine, Sona.

Sona, a 12-year-old Nepali girl, has struck up a friendship with Tara, the niece of the greedy tea plantation manager who has promised Tara's hand in marriage in order to get his hands on her inheritance of precious jewelry. Then Tara’s gold jewelry goes missing. The search is on for the culprit, and Sona must use all her wits in order to prove it wasn’t her beloved brother, Samiran Daju, who stole it.

Filled with vivid characters against a complex and multilayered political and cultural backdrop, this novel showcases a strong girl protagonist whom readers will root for. The Golden Necklace is award-winning author Mitali Perkins's latest and most compelling story yet.

  • Published: 4 November 2025
  • ISBN: 9781623543730
  • Imprint: Charlesbridge Children
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $32.99

Praise for The Golden Necklace

Praise for Tiger Boy

  • 2016 Charlotte Huck Award Honorable Mention
  • 2016 South Asia Book Award (sponsored by the South Asia National Outreach Consortium in the United States)
  • "Sure to encourage vital conversations among children."--School Library Journal, starred review
  • "Fast-paced action . . . and clearly laid-out moral dilemmas come together in a satisfying way."--Horn Book

Praise for Rickshaw Girl
  • Bank Street Best Children's Books List
  • A Jane Addams Award Honor Book
  • "An appealing, child-centered story that also highlights changing attitudes and times."--Cooperative Children's Book Center