The story's magic-laden background and setting force the main character to face reality, find courage, and take action. An unforgettable, thought-provoking tale with plenty of material to consider and discuss. Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the Barrow, spends his days in a dark cellar grinding herbs and dreaming of the wizards who once walked the forests of his island. Oscar's world is small, but he likes it that way. The real world is vast, strange, and unpredictable. And Oscar does not quite fit in it.

But now that world is changing. Children in the nearby city are falling ill, something sinister lurks in the forest--and now even magic may not be enough to keep the island safe. Anne Ursu has written an unforgettable story of transformation and belonging--a spellbinding tale of the way in which the power we all wield, great and small, lies in the choices we make.