The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond, #1)

by Sayantani DasGupta

Soneela Nankani (Narrator)

From New York Times bestselling author comes a world packed with action and adventure, perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Soman Chainani.

MEET KIRANMALA:INTERDIMENSIONAL DEMON SLAYER (Only she doesn't know it yet.)

On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey . . . until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents' fantastical stories-like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how she comes from a secret place not of this world.

To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her doorbell, insisting they've come to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying, talking birds. There she must solve riddles and battle demons all while avoiding the Serpent King of the underworld and the Rakkhoshi Queen in order to find her parents and basically save New Jersey, her entire world, and everything beyond it . . .

• ISBN10: 1509467203
• ISBN13: 9781509467204
• Publish Date: 1 June 2018 (first published 27 February 2018)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Scholastic
• Format: Audiobook
• Language: English

Reviews

[tweetybugshouse]

This wonderful middlegrade novel was very entertaining and will appeal to 12 year olds as Kiran is just like most 12 years she embrassed by her parents and fears what others think of her.  Like many children who are raised by parents who are culutrally different from her classmates. Kiranmala is embarrassed by being dressed as an Indian Princess every year for Halloween and the snake pit around her house.  

I like when a book envelopes me in a new culture that i don't know much about such as the case in the many references to Bengali fairytales.  I almost think i need a copy just so i can be even more intuned with the story.  I may not know what a rakkhosh is but still got goosebumps whenever one was encountered in the story.  I think this book will open up your child eyes to another world beyond the one they interact with everyday.  Give them a bit of push to learn more about Bengali and the fairy tales.  

This is a great start to a new series and i am eager to see what lies in the future for Kiran and her culturally different family.  What will Kiran do now that she knows she truly is an Indian princess? Also i really loved the variety with the riddles and puns and think my favorite side character was tuni the bird.  Pick, up the Serpents King in late February.