I am thrilled to be hosting a spot
on the HARLEY JAMES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE MAYAN KINGS by Leah Cupps Blog Tour
hosted by Rockstar
Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Leah Cupps
Pub. Date: May 11, 2022
Publisher: Vision Forty
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Pages: 172
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, TBD, Bookshop.org
Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited Membership!
Will Harley Find the Missing Mayan Statue & Save the World?
Amateur cryptologist Harley James has just landed in the sticky jungle of Tikal, Guatemala—home to the famous Mayan ruins. She’s made a few friends, a few mistakes…and a ground-breaking discovery.
The legendary statue of the long-lost Mayan King.
Just as she is about to impress her father with her discovery, the statue is
stolen. Right from her own room!
And what’s worse? The legend says if the statues of the three kings are
reunited, they’ll bring back an army from the dead to rule the world.
Follow along with Harley as she tracks down the missing Mayan statue, solves a
few riddles and stumbles upon a secret society that will change her life
forever!
Book Trailer:
Harley James and the
Mystery of the Mayan Kings
By Leah Cupps
Chapter One: The Glowing
Statue
Tikal, Guatemala, Present
Day
You know how you just know
something in your “knower”? As if you had a crystal ball built into your
brain?
Well, today I had a feeling.
This was going to be my year.
I, Harley Rebecca James,
am going to win the Junior International Cryptography Competition.
What is that, you ask?
JICC is an online
competition that follows the story of two explorers as they embark on a
cryptographic adventure. Solving riddles and clues are my favorite things to
do, so naturally, I love cryptography. Each week for twelve weeks, a new
chapter is released, with a new code to break. Thousands of kids enter to win.
And I was about to solve the clue for week two.
Thirty-nine characters. A
famous phrase… got it!
I scribbled the answer
down in my journal and smiled.
“Where there is ruin,
there is hope for treasure,” I whispered to myself.
A quote from the ancient
philosopher Rumi. Of course, I’ve heard Dad say this a hundred times.
The code itself had been
easy to crack. The technique used was a simple Caesar shift. The hard part had
been finding the key to unlock the cipher.
I couldn’t wait to get
back to my room so I could log on and enter the answer.
“Harley? Have you finished
your report on Mayan glyphs yet?” A voice suddenly broke through my thoughts.
Report?
Right, I was supposed to
be finishing my homework, not cracking codes.
“Almost,” I replied,
tucking a piece of unruly blonde hair out of my face. I was with my tutor
Jessica Rodríguez and her dog, Daisy, sitting under the shade of the famous
temples of Tikal, an ancient Mayan site nestled in the dense Guatemalan forest.
“Are you solving riddles
again?”
I smiled in response,
shrugging my shoulders.
“You need to finish your
history assignment.”
Jessica frowned at me and
readjusted her long legs, shifting in her chair. She was pretty when she
smiled, but most of the time, I felt like she was scowling at me. I sat upright
and grabbed my notebook.
She hated when I got
distracted during homework time.
Upon hearing my voice,
Daisy rose up from her spot next to Jessica and walked over to me. She licked
my face, and I patted her on the head.
I was currently sweating
through another afternoon of sixth-grade homework, my books scattered over a
large blanket. I scribbled in the last few lines on my report and shoved them
back into my history binder.
“Done!”
Daisy was tugging at my
backpack, begging for a walk. I smiled at her. I’ve always wanted a dog, but it
was one of the many things I had to give up as a famous world traveler.
Okay, not quite famous,
but the world traveler part was spot on. You see, I’m a bit of a nomad. The
only daughter of world-renowned archeologist and engineer, Russell James.
Global traveler, student of the world.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
I’ll admit it, some parts are
great. Exploring remote sections of the world, making new friends, learning new
languages.
But then there are the other
parts of world travel: staying in hotels with no air conditioning and traveling
to remote areas with big—I mean BIG—spiders isn’t always fun. There was one
time in Peru when we spotted a Giant Huntsman spider the size of a dinner
plate. I had nightmares about it for weeks.
And Dad? Let’s just say
he’s overprotective. I’m never allowed to explore anywhere on my own. I can
barely get alone time in my room without him checking on me every fifteen
minutes. I love him dearly, but I’d just like a little more freedom.
Daisy placed her tiny
furry chin on my outstretched leg, breaking me from my thoughts.
“You ready for a walk,
girl?” I scratched her head. “I’m ready for a break, too.”
Daisy stood up, twirled
around in a circle, and nudged at her leash.
“Jessica? Would you mind
if I take Daisy for a walk?”
Jessica barely looked up.
“Hmm?” Her eyes lingered on the pages of her book.
“I could use a break.”
She raised her eyes to me
and Daisy, who was now shaking with anticipation. “Okay. Just remember, stay
close—”
“I know, I know. Don’t
talk to strangers and don’t go into the jungle.”
Jessica gave me a thin
smile. “And be careful.”
“Of course.” I gave her my
most confident grin. “Let’s go, Daisy!”
I swung my favorite purple
backpack over my shoulders. This wasn’t just any backpack, mind you. It was
decorated with patches from all over the world. Mom had given it to me, along
with my first traveler’s patch from France. I kept all the necessities inside;
cell phone, colored pencils, a leather notebook, gum, and a headlamp—just in
case.
Daisy fell in step with me
as we started out across the edge of the jungle. Tikal, Guatemala, was a huge
archeological site full of Mayan temples, statues, and monuments. Some of the
temples extended above the tops of the trees, like lighthouses in the forest.
The Mayans built one of the largest ancient cities in the world… made with no
bulldozers, no cranes, and no construction equipment of any kind.
I stared out over the
city. How did they do it?
Everything was going
great—I was being completely safe—until Daisy suddenly tugged me away from the
path around the Temple of the Jaguar toward a dense spot in the jungle.
“No, Daisy,” I said,
pulling back on her leash. “We have to stay on the path.”
If I left this path, I’d
never be allowed out of Dad’s or Jessica’s sight again.
But Daisy wasn’t giving
up. She pulled me into the brush and out of the sunlight. Not good. Snakes and
spiders loved hanging out in the shade. I looked around nervously.
“What is it, girl?”
As my eyes adjusted to the
shade, I saw a figure standing in the trees about fifteen feet away.
“Hello?” I said, my voice
cracking. Daisy continued to pull me forward like a sled dog. “Daisy, will you
stop?”
But she was not giving up,
and I couldn’t hold on any longer. The leash slipped from my hand, and she
bolted into the jungle.
“Daisy!” I cried, dashing
after her.
Branches and leaves
whipped past me as I followed her deeper into the forest. I wasn’t about to
lose Daisy in the jungle, rules, or no rules.
Just as I was about to run
out of breath, Daisy stopped ahead of me with an excited, yip!
Apparently, she had found
something.
I caught up to her in a
few long strides and peered into the jungle. Nestled behind a bramble of jungle
leaves was a wall made of stone. After I grabbed Daisy’s leash, I took a step
closer.
“What did you find, girl?”
Six nooks were carved into
the side of the wall, about the size of my outstretched hand. Five of the nooks
had carved stones placed inside. I recognized the carvings. They were Mayan.
In fact, I had just been
studying them for my history lesson.
Now I was intrigued. Maybe
that report would come in handy. Dad was always going on and on about using our
great knowledge of history in the field.
The first five symbols
stood for Jaguar, Sun, Snake, Rain, and Skull. But the sixth nook was empty. I
touched the soft grooves of the granite. My code-finding mind went to work.
There must be a stone that fits into the final slot. It must follow a logical
pattern.
What do the glyphs for
Jaguar, Sun, Snake, Rain, and Skull have in common? I bit the edge of my lip. I
tried to think of something useful from my report. I had taken a particular
interest in the Mayan glyphs, given my love of codes and symbols.
I knew that Kinich Ahau,
the god of the sun, was often depicted as a jaguar. And Chaac, the god of rain,
was drawn with the body of a snake. And the skull? Well, the god of earth, and
the underworld, was Cizin. He was often shown as a skull.
I felt a little chill run
up my spine. Creepy.
But back to the glyphs.
Jaguar, Sun, Snake, Rain,
Skull… Earth?
It was worth a shot.
There were stones
scattered about the jungle floor and I quickly shifted through them, looking
for earth symbol. A few were broken, some had parts of a carving. They
represented everything from rain drops to mountains.
Then I stumbled over a sharp
object jutting out of the jungle floor. I got down on my knees. I could see a
stone half-buried in the mud. I dug my fingers into the ground and began to
dig. When I was done, I stared at the stone.
It had the symbol for
earth. Bingo!
I ran back to the center
of the wall and placed it in the sixth nook. To my surprise, it fit perfectly
in place.
Then something weird
happened. The ground beneath began to rumble.
Was this an earthquake?
It wasn’t that unusual for
an earthquake to happen in Central America. But right after I placed the sixth
symbol? That was a little odd.
The stones in front of me
suddenly began to move, and I pulled Daisy back as several rocks began to fall.
We huddled together near the ground. I placed my hands over my head and squeezed
my eyes shut. A few seconds later, the shaking stopped.
I looked up. The center of
the wall that held the carved stones had crumbled into a pile at my feet.
So much for solving that
riddle.
“Come on, Daisy, we better
get back,” I said, pulling on her leash.
If my overprotective dad
knew I was by myself in the jungle during an earthquake?
I shuddered at the
thought.
But just as I was about to
leave, my eyes caught on a peculiar green glow coming from the pile of stones.
Daisy must have noticed it
too, because she walked back over to the spot. As she sniffed the ground, I saw
she was standing over a small object that appeared to be lit from within. I
squatted down and took a closer look.
It was a little statue,
about as big as an eggplant. I reached down and touched it, feeling the cool
surface on my skin. Perhaps it was made of jade?
I could hear Dad’s voice
in my head shouting, You should be wearing gloves!
Well, he wasn’t here, so I
picked it up.
It had to be a real Mayan
artifact. What else would it be doing here in the jungle?
Then I got that weird
feeling you get when someone’s watching you. I spun around and looked every
which way I could. Leaves were moving off toward the temple as if someone had
just parted them.
I figured I had a few
choices. I could run the piece back to Dad and share my discovery. That would
be the obvious thing to do.
Or I could do some
research of my own, find out who this little guy was. Maybe if I found out
enough, I could convince Dad that I was old enough to explore on my own.
What should I do?
One thing I did know was I
had to get out of there. The waving tree limbs gave me the heebie-jeebies.
And then, the answer hit
me.
I’d pay a visit to my
friend, Aly, whose parents managed one of the museums here in Tikal. She could help
me figure out what it was.
“What do you think, Daisy
girl? Should we get out of here? Check this one out ourselves?”
Daisy yipped back,
obviously agreeing with me.
I stashed the statue in my
backpack and set off towards our rental house in the village. First, I had to
stop at home and enter this week’s answer for the cryptography competition.
After that, we’d head over to the museum.
I didn’t know it at the
time, but that little statue I had stuffed in my backpack?
It was about to get me into a whole world of trouble.
About Leah Cupps:
Leah Cupps is an author, designer and entrepreneur. She came
up with the idea for Harley James with her oldest daughter Savannah. Savannah
had taken an interest in Mayan history and so the two of them worked together
to come up with the idea for the first Harley James book; the Mystery of the
Mayan Kings.
Leah lives in Indiana with her husband and three children. She is also the cofound of Vision Forty Press, a small family owned publishing company.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Giveaway Details:
1 winner will receive a finished copy of HARLEY JAMES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE MAYAN KINGS, US Only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
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6/13/2022 |
Excerpt |
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6/13/2022 |
IG Post |
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6/14/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/14/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/15/2022 |
Excerpt |
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6/15/2022 |
IG Post |
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6/16/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/16/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/17/2022 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
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6/17/2022 |
Excerpt |
Week Two:
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6/20/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/20/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/21/2022 |
IG Review |
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6/21/2022 |
Review/IG Post/TikTok Post |
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6/22/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/22/2022 |
Review |
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6/23/2022 |
Review/IG Post |
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6/23/2022 |
IG Review |
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6/24/2022 |
Review |
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6/24/2022 |
IG Review |
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