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The Golden Necklace
  • Published: 2 December 2026
  • ISBN: 9781623547769
  • Imprint: Charlesbridge Children
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $22.99

The Golden Necklace

A Darjeeling Tea Mystery

Formats & editions
EBook
7 Oct 2025
Paperback
2 Dec 2026
Hardback
4 Nov 2025
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Now in paperback! 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: 2 December 2026
  • ISBN: 9781623547769
  • Imprint: Charlesbridge Children
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $22.99
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About the authors

Mitali Perkins

Mitali Perkins has written many novels and picture books for young readers, including You Bring the Distant Near, Forward Me Back to You, Rickshaw Girl, and Bamboo People. Her books have been nominated for the National Book Award, won the South Asia Book Award, and listed as Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and School Library Journal. Born in Kolkata, India, Perkins has lived in India, Ghana, Cameroon, Great Britain, Mexico, Bangladesh, Thailand, and the United States (Massachusetts, New York, and California). Perkins's work is known for its strong characters, who cross all kinds of borders, seek community, and promote justice. She and her husband have two sons and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
portrait photo of Mitali Perkins

Praise for The Golden Necklace

Praise for Golden Necklace

  • A 2025 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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