Pepper Masalah and the
Flying Carpet by Rosanne Hawke is a series of five story books featuring an
adventurous black cat called Pepper Masalah, and her nine-year-old friend,
Zamir.
Pepper Masalah
lives with Zamir and his family on an olive farm in Australia. Zam’s
grandmother is from the old country (Kashmir) and she brought with her an
ancient carpet. She believes the carpet can fly, and that it will try to find
its previous master in Kashmir. It hasn’t flown for hundreds of years so it is
shaky at first, and can’t find its bearings. It lands in many countries on the
way to Kashmir, where Pepper Masalah and Zamir have dangerous but exciting
adventures.
In the 5th
book, the carpet flies Pepper Masalah and Zamir to Kashmir and lands in the
aftermath of a modern-day earthquake. When Pepper is kidnapped and locked in an
animal shelter by some thieves, she meets a snow leopard, a cat, and a woman
named Jani, who reminds her of Zamir’s Dadi. Despite Pepper’s clever plan to
release the animals and reunite with Zamir, the new group cannot evade the
thieves. It seems only Jani will be able to help. Will Zamir and Pepper find a
way to escape? Or will Jani’s secret change everything?
