Thanks so much to Rachel for the invite to be part of the blog blitz!

Book Description:

One gutsy eleven-year-old, a cool beach town, a hilarious crew of friends and oodles of adventures.

Once upon a beach, there was a girl called Isabelle Necessary. A girl with an unusual name and a rather extraordinary life. She roams around a sleepy beach town with her loyal team of friends.  Follow Isabelle, Tammy, David, Nin, Draino the cat and Champ the wonder dog as they navigate one sticky situation after another and figure out how to turn a frog into a movie star, deal with a never-ending milkshake and escape being trapped in a lighthouse.

The type of book that brings back childhood memories and captures the essence of being a free-spirited kid.

Perfect for teachers and educators as the book comes with a teacher’s resource guide and student maker kit by Isabelle Necessary herself. Middle-grade reading level.

Purchase Links

Amazon US –  https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Isabelle-Necessary-Martii-MacLean/dp/0994540868/

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Isabelle-Necessary-Martii-MacLean/dp/0994540868/

Here is an excerpt from chapter fourteen “Isabelle and the Parrot Mystery”‘

My  goodness,  aren’t  you  beautiful,’  said  Aunt  Emma. Draino  thought  Aunt  Emma  was  talking  to  him,  so  he  jumped  up  onto  the  table  for  a scratch.  When  he  saw  the  bird,  he  skidded  to  a  stop  and  his  fur  spiked  up  along  his  back,  like an  echidna’s  spines.

‘You  be  nice,’  Isabelle  said  to  Draino. Draino  hissed  and  stared  at  the  bird,  then  he  crept  a  little  closer.

‘Move  back,’  said  the  bird  in  his  scratchy  voice. Draino  froze  in  mid-step  and  wriggled  back a  little  bit,  twitching  his  tail.

‘Well,  hello,’  said  Aunt  Emma.

‘Hello,  Kevin,’  answered  the  bird.  ‘Move  back.  Take  your  seats.’

‘Is  your  name  Kevin?’  said  Isabelle.

‘Hello,  Kevin,  hello,  Floyd,  sing  us  a  song,’  the  bird  said,  then  he  started  moving  his  head  from  side  to  side  and  mumbling  a  tune.  It  really sounded  like  music.

‘So  is  he  Kevin  or  is  he  Floyd?’  wondered Aunt  Emma.

‘Hello,  Kevin,’  said  Isabelle. The  bird  kept  on  swaying.

‘Take  your  ticket,  move  back,’  he  squawked  at  Draino,  who  had  crept  closer  again.

‘Hello,  Floyd,’  Isabelle  said.

‘Good  morning,’  said  the  bird.  ‘Enjoy  your trip.’

Isabelle  thought  some  more  and  then  said,  ‘Hello,  Floyd,  sing  us  a  song.’  The  bird,  whose  name  had  to  be  Floyd,  she  decided,  swayed  his  head  and  started  singing.

‘The  wheels  on  the  bus  go  round  and  round  …’ When  Isabelle  clapped  delightedly,  Floyd  stopped  and  bowed  his  feathery  head.

‘Hello,  Floyd,  sing  us  a  song,’  she  said  again.

‘The  horn  on  the  bus  goes  beep-beep-beep’— Floyd’s  head  started  bouncing  up  and  down— ‘beep-beep-beep,  beep-beep-beep.  The  horn on  the  bus  goes  beep-beep-beep,  all  the  way to  town.’ Isabelle  clapped  again  and  Floyd  took  another  bow.

‘How  amazing,’  Aunt  Emma  said.  ‘I  wonder  where  he’s  come  from.’

‘Well,  he  sang  when  I  asked  him  to.  Maybe  if  I  ask  him  where  he’s  from  he’ll  tell  us.

‘Hey, Floyd,  where  have  you  come  from?’

‘Take  your  seat,’  said  Floyd.

‘Where’s  Kevin?’  asked  Aunt  Emma.

‘Last  stop  Saggy  Beach.’

‘What  a  mystery,’  said  Aunt  Emma.

‘We  have  some  clues.  Floyd  must  live  somewhere  in  Saggy  Beach  with  someone  called Kevin.’  Isabelle  was  really  thinking  now.  ‘I  can solve  this  parrot  mystery.’

‘I’ve  never  met  anyone  called  Kevin,  and  I  belong  to  the  Good  Neighbours  of  Saggy  Beach,’ said  Aunt  Emma,  shaking  her  head.  ‘We’re  the  first  to  know  about  new  neighbours.’

‘Well,  leave  it  to Isabelle  PI  to  solve  the  mystery.’

‘PI?’

‘Parrot  investigator.’  Isabelle  reached  out  her  arm.  ‘Come,  Floyd,  let’s  go  and  find  Kevin.’

‘Last  stop  Saggy  Beach,’  Floyd  mumbled,  as  he  climbed  back  up  onto  Isabelle’s  shoulder.

‘Maybe  Kevin’s  staying  at  the  caravan  park,  I’ll  start  there.’  Isabelle  walked  out  of  the retirement  village  and  along  the  esplanade.

Floyd  sat  on  her  shoulder  with  the  afternoon breeze  ruffling  his  feathers.  Whenever  a  seagull flew  past,  he  mumbled,  ‘Hello.’

‘Wow,  a  cool  parrot,’  said  Tammy,  riding  up on  her  bike.  ‘Did  your  mum  and  dad  send  him from  somewhere  exotic?’

‘No,  he’s  lost,  and  I’m  investigating  who  he belongs  to,’  said  Isabelle.

‘I’ll  help.  Do  you  have  any  clues?’ Floyd  looked  down  at  the  bread  and  milk  in the  basket  of  Tammy’s  bike.  ‘I  think  it’s  time  for lunch.’  He  hopped  off  Isabelle’s  shoulder  and fluttered  down  to  investigate.

‘Take  a  seat,’  he said,  then  he  ruffled  his  feathers  and  sat  on  the handlebars.

‘He  talks!’  Tammy  said.  ‘How  amazing.’

‘He  sings,  too.  Watch  this.  Hello,  Floyd,  sing us  a  song.’

‘The  wheels  on  the  bus  go  round  and  round, round  and  round  …’Tammy  clapped,  and  Floyd  stopped  singing and  took  a  bow.

‘So  is  “buses”  one  of  your  clues?’  asked  Tammy.

‘I  didn’t  think  of  that,’  said  Isabelle.  ‘You’re a  great  investigator.  Let’s  go  and  find  Kevin.’

‘Last  stop  Saggy  Beach,’  said  Floyd.

‘This  Kevin  could  be  here  on  holiday,’  said Isabelle,  ‘so  I’m  going  to  the  caravan  park  first.’

No  one  called  Kevin  was  staying  at  the caravan  park,  but  Tina  in  the  office  suggested that  Isabelle  and  Tammy  ask  at  the  museum because  lots  of  visitors  stopped  there  on  their way  through  town.

When  they  got  to  the  museum,  Isabelle  asked Saggy  Bill,  ‘Have  any  visitors  come  into  the museum  today  with  a  parrot?’

Saggy  Bill  stopped  dusting  and  looked  at Floyd.  ‘Why  yes,  Isabelle,  they  have.’

‘Excellent,’  said  Isabelle.  ‘Do  you  remember their  name?’

‘Why,  yes  …  Isabelle.’

‘Can  you  tell  us  their  names,  please?’

‘Why  yes  …  Isabelle.  Their  names  are  Isabelle and  Tammy.

You  are  my  visitors  who  came  in today  with  a  parrot.’

‘No,  Saggy  Bill,  we  mean  did  you  see  anyone else  with  the  parrot?’  said  Tammy.

‘We  found  Floyd  and  we’re  looking  for  his owner,’  said  Isabelle.

‘Maybe  he  belongs  to  someone  staying  at  the caravan  park.’

‘We  already  tried  there,’  said  Isabelle.

‘Hello,  Floyd,’  said  Saggy  Bill,  scratching  the parrot’s  feathery  head.

‘Good  morning,’  said  the  bird.  ‘Enjoy  your  trip.’

‘Have  you  checked  at  Halfway  Percy’s?’  Saggy  Bill said.  ‘If  Floyd  here  and  his  owner  were  on  a  trip, they  might  have  stopped  off  at  the  shop  for  a  snack.’

‘Great  idea,’  said  Isabelle.  ‘Thanks  for  your  help.’

The  girls  waved  goodbye  to  Saggy  Bill,  and walked  past  the  statue  and  crossed  Breeches Road.  They  stopped  at  the  Thai  Kitchen.  Nin was  setting  the  tables  while  her  mum  and  dad chopped  and  prepared  for  the  dinner time  rush.

‘Cool  bird,’  said  Nin.

‘Hey,  Mum,  Dad,  come take  a  look  at  the  parrot.’

The  chopping  stopped  and  Nin’s  mum  and dad  came  to  look.

‘Hello,’  said  Nin’s  mum. ‘Take  a  seat,’  said  Floyd.

‘He’s  funny,’  said  Nin’s  dad.  ‘He  could  work for  us,  seating  the  customers.’  He  laughed  and went  back  to  his  chopping.

‘Where’s  he  from?’  asked  Nin’s  mum.

‘Last  stop  Saggy  Beach,’  said  Floyd.

‘He’s  lost,’  said  Isabelle.  ‘We’re  investigating where  his  owner  might  be.  His  name’s  Kevin.’

‘Where’s  Kevin?’  said  Floyd.  He  ruffled  his feathers.  ‘Kevin  …  Kevin.’  His  feathery  head sagged  and  he  mumbled. Isabelle  thought  he  sounded  sad.

‘We  need to  get  this  mystery  solved,’  she  said.‘Saggy  Bill  said  that  Percy  might  know something,’  said  Tammy.

‘Can  I  go  with  them,  Mum?’  asked  Nin.

‘Go  on,  but  don’t  forget  the  tables.’

‘Thanks,  Mum.’

The  girls  rushed  to  Halfway  Percy’s  shop.

‘Hello,  girls,’  Percy  said,  ‘hello,  bird.’

‘Good  morning,’  Floyd  said,  ‘enjoy  your  trip.’

‘Did  anyone  come  into  the  shop  today  with a  parrot?’  asked  Tammy. Percy  pointed  and  nodded  at  them.

‘Apart  from  us,’  said  Isabelle.

‘No,  but  someone  did  come  into  the  shop today without a  parrot.  He  was  looking  for  a parrot.  He  was  called  Floyd—the  bird,  not  the man.  The  man’s  name  was  Kevin.’

‘Where’s  Kevin?’  said  Floyd.

‘I  told  this  Kevin  chap  that  if  his  parrot  was hungry  he  would  probably go  to  Uncle  Knock-knock’s  bungalow  where  all  the  local  parrots go  for  lunch—’‘Thank  you,  Percy,  you  give  the  best  clues,’ Isabelle  said.

Author Bio – Martii Maclean lives in a tin shack by the sea, catching sea-gulls which she uses to make delicious pies, and writing weird stories. She likes going for long bicycle rides with her cat, who always wears aviator goggles to stop her whiskers blowing up into her eyes as they speed down to the beach to search for mermaid eggs. Or how about this…

Martii Maclean writes fantastical, adventurous tales for children and teens and sometimes adults. She was born in Sydney, Australia and now lives in Brisbane with her husband Trevor and her cat Minerva. Her work as an educator and librarian, allows her to share her love of stories and of story-telling with many young people. This inspires Martii to create thought-filled stories that explore the wonderful world of ‘what if’. Find out more about Martii and her stories at http://www.martiimaclean.com

Social Media Links –

Twitter: @MacleanMartii

IG: –https://www.instagram.com/martiimaclean/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15385250.Martii_Maclean

https://www.facebook.com/MartiiMacleanAuthor/