Charlotte Kandel, widely known as a veteran Warner Bros. vice president of world-wide publicity, has authored her first book, "The Scarlet Stockings: The Enchanted Riddle," and will read excerpts at 1 p.m. May 24 at Barnes & Noble at Kahala Mall.

Kandel, a frequent Island visitor, transports readers back in time, to the London and Paris of the early 1920s, in the first of a trilogy aimed at girls 8 to 13. The book, published by Dutton/Penguin Group, features a heroine named Daphne, who dreams of discovering the identity of her parents and to be one day become a ballerina like her idol, the great Russian star Madame Ova Andova. When she receives an anonymous package containing a book posing a riddle and a pair of scarlet silk stockings, she is hurled into a magical spin.

Kandel will autograph her book, which features illustrations by Tony Award-winning set and costume designer Desmond Helley.

She has previously done a book tour in Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis and Portland.

A Manchester, England native, Kandel's show biz career was launched with work with Broadway producers and publicity with the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Her movie publicity stint includes a long relationships with Warner Bros., a marketing role in Australia, then a return to Hollywood where she supervised publicity for a myriad of blockbuster films, including "Lethal Weapon," "Batman," the "Matrix" series, "Driving Miss Daisy," and "You've Got Mail."