The Mystery In The Forbidden City

Ethan and Ella find an ancient map and explore a Chinese palace in the fourth book of Greetings from Somewhere, a chapter book series about mystery, travel, and adventure. From the Great Wall to the dumplings, Ethan and Ella love China so far. And the Forbidden City in Beijing doesn’t leave anything to be desired, either! When the twins get separated from their parents, however, they get do some exploring on their own. As they are wandering, the twins happen across an ancient-looking scroll that appears to have a map on it. Being the mystery-solving duo they are, Ethan and Ella attempt to navigate the map...but they get lost in the palace. There are thousands of rooms, and they all seem to look the same! Will the twins figure out where the map is leading them? And will they ever make their way out of the Forbidden City? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Greetings from Somewhere chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

In this third “thrilling” (Kirkus Reviews) installment in the New York Times bestselling series from Edgar Award winner James Ponti, the young group of spies help a fellow agent in another international adventure perfect for fans of Spy School and Mrs. Smith’s Spy School for Girls. After taking down a mole within their organization, the City Spies are ready for their next mission—once again using their unique skills and ability to infiltrate places adults can’t. The sinister Umbra has their sights set on recruiting a North Korean nuclear physicist by any means necessary, and the City Spies plan to keep an eye on his son by sending Paris to the chess prodigy’s tournaments in Moscow and Beijing. Meanwhile, Sydney’s embedded as a junior reporter for a teen lifestyle site as she follows the daughter of a British billionaire on tour with the biggest act on her father’s music label to uncover what links both the band and the billionaire have to a recent threat from an old Soviet missile base. From a daring break-in at one of London’s most exclusive homes to a dangerous undercover mission to a desperate search and rescue operation on the streets of Beijing, the City Spies have their work cut out for them on their most dangerous mission yet.

Peking, 1867 When one of the Empress's ladies-in-waiting is killed in the Forbidden City, she orders Inspector Gong to find the killer. Unfortunately, as a man, he is forbidden from entering the Inner Court. How is he supposed to solve a murder when he cannot visit the scene of the crime or talk to the women in the victim's life? He won't be able to solve this crime alone. The widowed Lady Li is devastated when she finds out about the murder of her sister-in-law, who was serving as the Empress's lady-in-waiting. She is determined to discover who killed her, even if it means assisting the rude and obnoxious Inspector Gong and going undercover in the Forbidden City. Together, will Lady Li and Inspector Gong be able to find the murderer before he - or she - strikes again?

Thousands of miles from home, Grant Christina, Mimi, and Papa look out the window of their airplane at the winding-snake wall _ endless as far as they can see. When Grant finds a treasure map in the seat pocket, the mystery begins. The treasure hunt takes Grant, Christina and their Chinese pen pals on a wild ride in a rickshaw, to the land of the Forbidden City, and face-to-face with a dragon! X marks the spot but where is X? As the kids try to solve the puzzle, they come to across fortune cookies with clues and warnings (yikes!), dragons with menacing messages, fantastic fireworks, and a ñflowerpotî army! Can they beat the bad guy to the treasure?? The race is on! This mystery incorporates history, geography, culture and cliffhanger chapters that keep kids begging for more! This mystery includes SAT words, educational facts, fun and humor. This Carole Marsh Mystery also has an Accelerated Reader quiz, a Lexile Level, a Fountas & Pinnell guided reading level and Developmental Reading Assessment. LOOK whatÕs inside this mystery - people, places, history and more! Places: The Forbidden City - Nine Dragon Screen - Hong Kong Express Restaurant. Places in Hong Kong: Hong Kong Airport - Victoria Peak - Kowloon - The Great Wall - TianÕan Men Square - Palace of Earthly Tranquility - Hall of Imperial Peace - Victoria Harbor - Tibet - Mt. Everest - Moscow, Russia - Macau - New Territories, Hong Kong Educational Items: Chinese history - Chinese Food -Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) - Chinese dragons - History of the Forbidden City - History of the Terracotta Army - Funicular railway - Victoria Peak history - GovernorÕs Walk - Jade facts - The Escalator - Carriageway and Watch Tower on Great Wall of China - Air China - China as trade partner - Confucius - Chinese geography - Pandas - Fortune cookies - Bactrian camels - How Chinese is read - Pinyin (simple form of Chinese writing) - Dynasties - Chinese inventions - Chinese book printing - Book shipping process - Star ferry - Limestone People: Bob ScottÕs trip across the Great Wall - Marco Polo Below is the Reading Levels Guide for this book: Grade Levels: 3-6 Accelerated Reader Reading Level: 4.7 Accelerated Reader Points: 2 Accelerated Reader Quiz Number: 111602 Lexile Measure: 710 Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Level: Q Developmental Assessment Level: 40

Peking, 1867 When one of the Empress's ladies-in-waiting is killed in the Forbidden City, she orders Inspector Gong to find the killer. Unfortunately, as a man, he is forbidden from entering the Inner Court. How is he supposed to solve a murder when he cannot visit the scene of the crime or talk to the women in the victim's life? He won't be able to solve this crime alone. The widowed Lady Li is devastated when she finds out about the murder of her sister-in-law, who was serving as the Empress's lady-in-waiting. She is determined to discover who killed her, even if it means assisting the rude and obnoxious Inspector Gong and going undercover in the Forbidden City. Together, will Lady Li and Inspector Gong be able to find the murderer before he - or she - strikes again? Readers who enjoy historical mysteries by authors such as Victoria Thompson, Deanna Raybourn, and Anne Perry are sure to love this exciting start to a new series by Amanda Roberts.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A teenage girl living in 1960s China becomes Mao Zedong’s protégée and lover—and a heroine of the Cultural Revolution—in this “masterful” (The Washington Post) novel. “A new classic about China’s Cultural Revolution . . . Think Succession, but add death and mayhem to the palace intrigue. . . . Ambitious and impressive.”—San Francisco Chronicle ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, PopSugar • Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize On the eve of China’s Cultural Revolution and her sixteenth birthday, Mei dreams of becoming a model revolutionary. When the Communist Party recruits girls for a mysterious duty in the capital, she seizes the opportunity to escape her impoverished village. It is only when Mei arrives at the Chairman’s opulent residence—a forbidden city unto itself—that she learns that the girls’ job is to dance with the Party elites. Ambitious and whip-smart, Mei beelines toward the Chairman. Mei gradually separates herself from the other recruits to become the Chairman’s confidante—and paramour. While he fends off political rivals, Mei faces down schemers from the dance troupe who will stop at nothing to take her place and the Chairman’s imperious wife, who has secret plans of her own. When the Chairman finally gives Mei a political mission, she seizes it with fervor, but the brutality of this latest stage of the revolution makes her begin to doubt all the certainties she has held so dear. Forbidden City is an epic yet intimate portrayal of one of the world’s most powerful and least understood leaders during this extraordinarily turbulent period in modern Chinese history. Mei’s harrowing journey toward truth and disillusionment raises questions about power, manipulation, and belief, as seen through the eyes of a passionate teenage girl.

"Readers become tourists as each page turn provides views into labyrinthine courtyards and palaces once reserved for imperial China's emperors (…) An impressive introduction to the Forbidden City." — Kirkus Serving as the seat of imperial power for six centuries, the Forbidden City is one of China's most famous and enigmatic landmarks. Accompanied by a mischievous cat, readers will tour this colossal architectural structure, discovering the secrets hidden inside the palace walls. They will encounter the people who have walked through its halls and gardens, including emperors, empresses, and rebel leaders, and hear exciting tales about the power struggles and intrigues of everyday life. This large format book conveys the grandeur of the Forbidden City through highly detailed line drawings of its buildings, gardens, and courtyards with numerous fold-out spreads. Each page is populated by a large variety of characters and peppered with entertaining anecdotes. Every book includes a plastic magnifying glass for looking at the drawings more closely. "Readers receive a lavish tour of the Forbidden City, once home to Chinese emperors and now a museum, courtesy of Chiu and the Design and Cultural Studies Workshop, which he founded. Delicate line drawings highlight the architectural intricacies of the nearly 178-acre complex (several foldout spreads emphasize its size) while Chiu examines the Ming and Qing dynasties in thorough detail, along with major events in the palace's history. (In one foldout scene, 24 emperors offer pithy, even brusque notes on their reigns — "I was entirely unaccomplished," says Emperor Longqing.) A magnifying glass is wisely included to help readers appreciate the wealth of visual detail." — Publishers Weekly

The principal residence of China's emperors for nearly five centuries, Beijing's Forbidden City was long shrouded in mystery, inaccessible both to common Chinese and to visitors from abroad. Exploring the palace's grand rituals and detailing the quotidian processes of its everyday life, this beautifully illustrated introduction goes beyond standard tourists' guidebooks to provide a detailed picture of the private world hidden behind imperial walls.