Today is the cover reveal for Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret by Paula Berinstein. This cover reveal is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours.
Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret (Amanda Lester, Detective #4)
by Paula Berinstein
Genre: Mystery/detective
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: March 31, 2016
Blurb:
What does a dusty old secret have to do with peacocks?Everything, as it turns out. When Amanda is knocked off her skateboard by a rare all-blue peacock, she learns that the species harbors a vital secret she must race to uncover. But before she can unravel the mystery, a startling archaeological discovery turns all of Britain against the detectives and threatens their very existence.
As old enemies gather strength and new adversaries emerge, Amanda finds herself dealing with hysterical teachers, a disappearing mentor, a mysterious poisoner, and a would-be magician. With so much at stake and so little time, the last thing she needs is to fall in love.
You can find Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret on Goodreads
You can pre-order Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret here:
– Amazon
My Cover Review:
I really like the feel of this cover, it’s bright happy and has this summery outdoorsy feel. The colours are bright and jump off the cover. I also like the movement/ action pose of the characters with how they are in motion jumping over the bridge. Then there are the peacocks which look great too. And I love the level of detail, depth and feel in these covers.
I like the combination of colours, the purple bridge, the green grass and the bright blue peacocks, it all works together to give the cover that bright, happy and summery feel. The clothes of the characters also hint to the fact that it’s summer, which makes me wonder how long after the third book this one takes place as that one took place during the summer as well.
And as always the character fit perfectly how they are described in the book, Amanda with her wild orange/ brown hair and her curious investigating nature. And Holmes with his dark skin and neat appearance and clothes. And I wonder who the person is that seems spying on them in the back of the cover.
To summarize: I love the covers for this series! And this one is great too, the bright, summery and happy feel. I like the different aspects on this covers, from how the characters look to the sue of colours and the peacocks.
Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret first Darktower class excerpt:
On Monday Amanda and her friends had their first class with the new logic teacher. It was a scary affair. The pirate was rude, strict, and humorless, and now he smelled like cigars. Probably drank grog too, by the look of him, Amanda thought, whatever that was.
The first thing Professor Darktower said, in a really loud voice, was, “Alice in Wonderland is not fun!” No introduction, no “Good morning,” nothing. The statement was so abrupt and the message so out of any context that every kid in the class dropped something, gasped, choked, or bit their tongue, even if they weren’t chewing. Then he said, “In this class we will read nothing but Lewis Carroll—Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, the whole shebang. These publications are no laughing matter. You think Tweedledum and Tweedledee are funny? The Mad Hatter is a joke? Alice is cute? BALDERDASH!”
This extremely loud exclamation caused poor Dreidel to fall off his chair and twist his knee. But Professor Darktower would not let him go to the nurse. “Detectives are not sissies,” he said. “You will stay here and learn to be absolutely, impeccably logical. Got that?”
The boy nodded up and down and attempted to hide his pain. It was obvious that he was hurt, though, because he kept grimacing every time he tried to move his leg. Amanda was so outraged that she refused to keep quiet. “He’s hurt. He needs medical attention.”
The huge man fixed her with a stony stare and said, “Then he’s out of my class. Do you think, missy, that when you’re out battling the likes of Blixus Moriarty you can take a time out and go to the nurse? Now stop acting like a girl and be a detective. And as for you, laddie, one more sissy incident like this and you’re out of my class. Got that?”
Dreidel nodded again but Amanda was furious. She opened her mouth to protest, but Ivy tugged on her sleeve and gave her a low “Uh uh,” and she realized that her revenge would have to wait. But revenge she would have, and it would be a doozy. The man was worse than a boor. Why, he was even ruder than an arch-criminal. Even Blixus had never been as bad as that. She wondered what Professor Darktower’s parents must be like to produce a son like him.
There was something she could do right then and there, however. She reached into her bag and surreptitiously texted Dreidel: “R U OK?” “Y,” the response came almost immediately. Of course he would say that. Dreidel was a trouper. And then it hit her that he hadn’t gone off to Skye after all. She was glad, not just because he’d stayed to support Legatum, but because he was a good guy and a great lab partner. She texted back a smiley and let it go for the time being.
Darktower glared at the class and said, “As I was saying, there are equations and syllogisms in these volumes that underlie every word, and we’re going to find them. You will be responsible for finding them. Then, for your term paper, you will be expected to arrange them in a different way that’s still logically valid and write the text they would produce. Is that clear? I repeat: this task is not humorous or fanciful. It is deadly serious work, and you won’t be able to build ironclad cases unless you can master it.”
The man made about as much sense as that strange page Amanda had found. Sometimes it was hard to understand Professor Ducey, but not like this. What did he mean, equations and syllogisms underlie every word? It sounded like he was saying that the books had been translated into English from math. You could read an equation out loud, of course, and you could translate it into Spanish or Chinese, but how could you—OMG. This was storytelling, just like the way she and Holmes had done when they’d put together the training film about a cyberforensics problem, except with math rather than words.
She glanced over at Holmes and found him looking at her and smiling. He’d got it too. He gave her a quick wink and then everything exploded.
“MR. Holmes!” bellowed the teacher. “Out, NOW!” Holmes looked astonished, then got up and walked out of the room. “MISS Lester!” the teacher continued. Amanda was surprised. “Oh, you thought I didn’t know who you were,” the man said. “I want you to take your things, find Mr. Holmes, and wait in my office. Is that clear?”
“But—” Amanda said.
“OUT!” he roared.
Amanda felt the strongest urge to stick her tongue out at him again, but she managed to control herself and abstained. She picked up her bag and followed Holmes out into the hall.
“What in the world was that?” he said when she’d caught up with him. He looked confused, as if he didn’t know quite what to do with himself.
“The man is a lunatic,” said Amanda. “He wants us to go to his office.”
“But the class just started,” said Holmes. “It will be fifty minutes.” Gosh, he looked good. His eyes seemed to be on fire. She looked away for a second.
“All I know is that’s what he said.”
He shook his head but he was smiling. “You know, the dumb thing is that up until he had his little meltdown, he was making sense.”
“You got that too?” she said, matching his grin.
“Of course. You taught me.”
“I did, didn’t I?” she said. She felt absolutely triumphant. It was a wonderful feeling after that ridiculous scene in the classroom. “Who needs him?”
“I guess we do,” said Holmes. “If we want to stay here.”
“You’re not thinking of going to Skye?” she said.
“Never. Not even for Professor Ducey.”
And then, instead of worrying or fuming or plotting revenge, the two of them cracked up so hard they had to hold their stomachs.
When they calmed down enough to speak, Holmes looked at her with mischief in his eyes and said, “You know what this means, don’t you?”
She threw back her head and laughed. “We have forty-five minutes to do whatever we want.”
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”
About the Author:
Paula Berinstein is nothing like Amanda. For one thing, she’s crazy about Sherlock Holmes. For another, she’s never wanted to be a filmmaker. In addition, compared to Amanda she’s a big chicken! And she wouldn’t mind going to a secret school at all. In fact, she’s hoping that some day she’ll get to build one.
You can find and contact Paula here:
– Website
– Facebook
– Twitter
– Goodreads
– Paula’s blog on Goodreads
– The Writing Show podcasts
There is a cover reveal wide giveaway for the cover reveal of Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret. You can win a 50$ amazon gift card. Open international.
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
That cover is adorable! I absolutely love the bright, bold colours. I haven’t heard of this series before, but I might have to check it out — it looks like something I could really enjoy.
Kara @ Diary of a Teen Writer recently posted…My 19th Birthday! And a Preorder Giveaway for FRAYED (INT)
It’s a great series! I have read the first three books and really enjoyed them and am now reading the fourth book. It’s a bit like Harry Potter, but with detectives instead. And the covers are just awesome and I like the colours!
Lola recently posted…Review: Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon
I’m so glad you like the cover, Lola and Kara! Anna Mogileva, who designs all my covers, is a wizard.
To answer your question about the season, Lola, this book starts right after the previous one. The timeline begins on August 24th and ends on December 11th, so the weather is still warm for a while.
I realized that when I started the book, for some reason I thought it would take place later. And in August it’s still plenty of warm usually, so that makes sense. Anna really did a great job with all your covers, they are so pretty!
I posted this on my site but I love looking at other sites to see where I can improve! Yours looks awesome!
Amanda recently posted…Amanda Lester the Blue Peacocks’ Secret
Thanks! I am glad to hear that :). I always like to add a little part of what I think about the cover.
I love this cover. It will be really intriguing to kids…and that excerpt makes me understand why my cousins love these books.
Angela @Simply Angela recently posted…The Best of Miranda by Miranda Hart
Huge grin, Angela. Thank you!!!!!
The covers for this series are awesome. And the mysteries are always fun and intriguing for both kids and adults :).
Lola recently posted…Review: Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon
This is a great cover! But all the Amanda Lester books are bright and colorful with nice art 🙂
Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…The Weekly Update: 3/13/16
Aw, you’re so sweet, Kristen. Glad you like them!
I agree, all the Amanda Lester covers are great and I hadn’t expected less of this cover. The artwork is great and I like the bright colours.
Awesome cover…love the peacocks.
The peacocks might be my favourite part of the cover, I love seeing animals on covers 🙂
Lola recently posted…Review: Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon
The cover arts for this series are always fun and bright!
Braine Talk Supe recently posted…Suped Up: Taking Fire by @CindyGerard @Pocket_Books #romanticsuspense
Yes the cover artist does a great job with the art for these covers, they all look great!
Cute cover! I really love all of the bright colors. It’s also nice when the book covers actually MATCH the description of the characters, so points for that.
Let’s Get Beyond Tolerance recently posted…Free E-Book: The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
Yes the cover artist managed to make the characters looks exactly like how they are described, it’s awesome! And the bright colours really work on this cover!
Lola recently posted…Review: Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon
What a cute cover. And yeah, it’s nice when the characters on the cover actually resemble and feel like the characters from the story.
Christy LoveOfBooks recently posted…Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
Yes it’s great when the characters on the cover resemble how they are described in the story. Although the covers also help me make an imagine in my head for the characters, sit works both ways. the covers help with visualizing, but they fit the descriptions in the book, so that makes it easy to combine it in my head?
Each of these covers are eye-catching and I love how they have the same branding even as they hint at the story inside. I love the bright colors and the active feel. The ominous watcher in the background of the kids and peacocks having fun in the front is a cool contrast. Definitely a winner!
Sophia Rose recently posted…Phoenix Reborn by J.D. Tyler #AfternoonDelight #DuoReview
Yes the branding is done very well with these covers and how they all have the same style. I am currently reading this book and not sure yet who the ominous watcher is, the peacocks already have made some appearances though.
Kathy, Braine Talk Supe, Let’s Get, Christy, Sophia Rose, so glad you like the cover!!!!!
I love this cover! I have the books in my room right now (I won your giveaway :D) and they look stunning and so well made. By the way, I tagged you in the Liebster Award on my blog!
That’s awesome you won the giveaway and have all the books in your room, they are even more stunning in real life! I hope you’ll enjoy them once you get around to reading them! And thanks for the tag, not sure if I have time to do the tag, but I’ll stop by your blog to check it out.
So glad you like the covers, Genni!!