After surviving being carried off by a hawk, a young squirrel resolves to find his way home, as his best friends begin their search for him.

Rising eighth-graders Jocelyn and Alex, former best friends forced together on a family vacation, must cooperate to survive when they get lost in the Wisconsin Northwoods. Told in two voices.

"A magicless boy, a fierce bandit leader, and a lost princess must join forces to save their worlds from foreign forces and a long-forgotten evil that lurks in an ancient magical forest"--

When Kara Westfall was five years old, her mother was convicted of the worst of all crimes: witchcraft. Years later, Kara and her little brother, Taff, are still shunned by the people of their village, who believe that nothing is more evil than magic…except, perhaps, the mysterious forest that covers nearly the entire island. It has many names, this place. Sometimes it is called the Dark Wood, or Sordyr's Realm. But mostly it's called the Thickety....