‘Are you brave?’

When the mysterious Amelia Pigeon turns up at Kirby’s bedroom window in the dead of night, this is the question she asks him — right before they tumble into a world of ancient malevolent spirits who have torn their way into Kirby’s quiet seaside village.

Kirby isn’t feeling brave at all. His mother is in a coma following a freak (or was it?) accident, and he’s hardly talking to his dad. He’s convinced a spider is spying on him, and now a weird girl in a yellow raincoat — who claims to be a powerful, evil-banishing Shadowsmith — is dragging him into unknown danger. How brave is he really?

Ross MacKenzie, author of award-winning The Nowhere Emporium, weaves a world of magic and adventure which twists and turns magnificently, and keeps thrilled young readers guessing right to the end.