* Richard Newsome won the 2008 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing. His award-winning book, The Billionaire's Curse , was a major hit with younger readers in 2009, and was followed by The Emerald Casket in 2010, The Mask of Destiny in 2011 and The Crystal Code in 2012. * The novels have sold close to 25,000 copies in ANZ * Young readers will love the brain-rattling section where Gerald has to work his way through the mysterious House of Puzzles in New York, solving riddles in order to save the life of his friend Professor McElderry. * In The House of Puzzles Gerald is at school camp in the Scottish highlands for the next ten weeks. Ruby has her sights on the elusive Triple Crown and Gerald has his sights on, well, Ruby * This charming series was inspired by stories Newsome told his children as he put them to bed at night--stories of a boy billionaire and his adventures. They are ideal reading for 9-13 year olds * Rights to the first three novels have been sold in the US, Canada, Poland, Italy and Germany * 'If your aim is to foster a love of reading, there are a billion good reasons to stock your library with Richard Newsome's novels.' Primary Fiction Focus * The Billionaire's Curse won the Esther Glen Medal for children's literature in 2009 * Richard Newsome will be a guest at major writers festivals in 2014/15 * Richard Newsome was born in Wanganui, New Zealand, and now lives in Brisbane.