Deltora Quest , de Emily Rodda
Deltora Quest é uma série de 15 livros divididos em 3 sub-séries - a 8-book Deltora Quest, a 3-book Deltora Shadowlands e a 4-book Deltora Dragons.
A primeira série está focada em recuperar um conjunto de 7 gemas para um cinturão mágico.
Da Wikipedia:
The first series of Deltora Quest follows the journeys of Lief, the son of a humble blacksmith [in disguise], who, on his sixteenth birthday, sets out to fulfill his fathers quest to restore the Belt of Deltora. Joining Lief is an ex-palace guard named Barda. Along the way they meet with Jasmine: a wild girl from the Forests of Silence, who has long, black hair and emerald eyes. She can speak to trees and has two pets: a raven named Kree and a small, gray, furry creature called Filli. Their quest is to find the seven gems of the fabled Belt of Deltora: the topaz, the ruby, the opal, the lapis lazuli, the emerald, the amethyst, and the diamond. The gems each have a special power and are hidden in dangerous locations around Deltora. The three friends must face numerous perils to reach them. Once the Belt is complete and the proper descendant of the first King of Deltora, Adin, wears the belt, the evil tyranny of the Shadow Lord will be forced back to the Shadowlands. The books in this series are The Forests of Silence, The Lake of Tears, City of the Rats, The Shifting Sands, Dread Mountain, The Maze of the Beast, The Valley of the Lost, and Return to Del.
Bolding é meu, para enfatizar as partes que se alinham com suas lembranças.
Muitos dos desafios que eles enfrentaram eram baseados em quebra-cabeças, e embora eu não me lembre especificamente de um quebra-cabeça com um pau-e-um-escaravelho, ele é similar em estilo aos tipos de obstáculos que encontrou.