When you least expect it something surprising will spring out and shock you. Like when you study your dead bug shelf and there’s a live huntsman spider sitting on it. Or when your sausage dog turns up on a secret mission...‘It’s Gloria,’ I say. You can feel the shock hover over the fort like a sulphur gas cloud over a volcano.

Gloria the talkative eclectus parrot is missing from the animal sanctuary, and Anna the massive ‘not an anaconda’ Australian scrub python has vanished from her enclosure at the library. Have they escaped? Or were they stolen?

When Andy and the Sugarcane Kids hear about an illegal native-animal trade, they know they have to investigate—and fast! Gloria and Anna are not only much-loved residents of their small coastal town in far north Queensland, but they also have very particular care needs—their lives could be in danger!

Andy, Eli, Harvey and the twins, Bernie and Fletch, along with Andy’s trusty sausage dog Washington, have their eyes on a prime suspect: the Hench, the fierce, mean new canteen lady who is behaving very strangely. Can the Sugarcane Kids follow the clues to discover what is going on? Will they find Gloria and Anna in time? And what unexpected dangers lie in wait for them? Find out in this exciting new Sugarcane Kids adventure.

Charlie Archbold is an educator and an award-winning writer. Her first novel, Mallee Boys, was a CBCA older readers honour book. Her first book in the Sugarcane Kids middle-grade series, The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat, was shortlisted for the Text Prize and went on to win the Readings Children’s Prize and the Davitt Children’s Novel Award and was a CBCA notable book.

‘A deft exploration of blended families and evolving friendships built around a mystery reminiscent of the adventure stories of old.’ Janine Larson, Readings

‘With its non-stop action, very proactive heroes, and constantly unfolding mystery, this is an adventure upper primary aged readers of both sexes would thoroughly enjoy.’ Magpies on The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat