Arabella the Moon and the Magic Mongongo Nut by Hamilton Wende

Arabella (nearly twelve years old) lives a normal, happy life in Parkview, Johannesburg. But then her father dies, suddenly, of cancer. Not long after this Arabella receives a magic mongongo nut from Khanyi, the mielie seller, and her pet monkey and this sets a mysterious chain of events into motion: Arabella discovers that, planted in the garden, the nut grows into a tree which can only be seen by moonlight and on which grows a magic fruit. When Ukhozi, the eagle, crash lands in Arabella's bedroom one night, he tells her what she needs to do keep her world in balance. Hadedas, led by Ozymandias, "the most evil bird in the sky", has taken the magic mongongo nut and Arabella has to recapture it, with the final battle taking place in a thunderstorm over the Hillbrow Tower.

 “A well-crafted magical adventure with many touches of enjoyable light humour. Arabella is a normal girl, who gains courage and self-knowledge through the magic events, and eventually chooses Right against Wrong.” Jay Heale.

 Hamilton Wende said that the idea for the first book was conceived during the renovation of the family's Parkview house. Wende wrote the book to distract his step-children from the disruption caused by the renovations, and it "became an extraordinary journey" both for the children and for Wende.