Publish with Us

Follow Penguin

Follow Penguinsters

Follow Penguin Swadesh

Trouble in the Tea Gardens

Trouble in the Tea Gardens

A Middle-grade Mystery Set in Darjeeling | Ages 10+

Mitali Perkins
Select Preferred Format
Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

A tale of mountains and tea gardens, of a brave girl and a yellow dog—and a thief who is clever . . .

Set in a tea plantation in Darjeeling, this is the story of Sona, a twelve-year-old Nepali girl. Life is challenging as she has to master English quickly to get a scholarship and fulfil her dream of studying in a good school. Meanwhile, there is constantly the challenge of finding enough drinking water and worrying about her brother finding a job to support the family.

But things get extra difficult when her friend Tara’s gold goes missing. Sona must use all her wits in order to prove it wasn’t her beloved brother, Samiran Daju, who stole it.

‘A page-turner that’s richly threaded with social conflict.’ –Kirkus Reviews

Imprint: Duckbill

Published: Oct/2025

ISBN: 9780143477693

Length : 120 Pages

MRP : ₹250.00

Trouble in the Tea Gardens

A Middle-grade Mystery Set in Darjeeling | Ages 10+

Mitali Perkins

A tale of mountains and tea gardens, of a brave girl and a yellow dog—and a thief who is clever . . .

Set in a tea plantation in Darjeeling, this is the story of Sona, a twelve-year-old Nepali girl. Life is challenging as she has to master English quickly to get a scholarship and fulfil her dream of studying in a good school. Meanwhile, there is constantly the challenge of finding enough drinking water and worrying about her brother finding a job to support the family.

But things get extra difficult when her friend Tara’s gold goes missing. Sona must use all her wits in order to prove it wasn’t her beloved brother, Samiran Daju, who stole it.

‘A page-turner that’s richly threaded with social conflict.’ –Kirkus Reviews

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

Mitali Perkins

Mitali Bose Perkins (mitaliperkins.com) has written many novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl (chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the top 100 books for children in the past 100 years) and Bamboo People (an American Library Association’s Top Ten Novels for Young Adults, starred in Publishers Weekly as “a graceful exploration of the redemptive power of love, family, and friendship”). Her book Tiger Boy was a South Asia Book Award winner in 2016 and a Neev Book Award winner in 2018.

Mitali was born in Kolkata, India before immigrating to the US with her family. She graduated from Stanford University in Political Science, received her Masters in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley, and has lived in Bangladesh, India, England, Thailand, Mexico, Cameroon, and Ghana. Currently she resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and sons.

More By The Author

Tiger Boy

Tiger Boy

Mitali Perkins
error: Content is protected !!