Colin Meloy

When her baby brother is kidnapped by crows, seventh-grader Prue McKeel ventures into the forbidden Impassable Wilderness--a dangerous and magical forest in the middle of Portland, Oregon--and soon finds herself involved in a war among the various inhabitants.

In the aftermath of a young's girl's midnight seance that awakens a long-slumbering, malevolent spirit, a band of runaway orphans teams up with an underground collective of saboteurs to rescue friends imprisoned in an industrial wasteland.

"Maybe Archie Coomes has been watching too many horror movies. All of a sudden, the most ordinary things have taken on a sinister edge: a penny on a doormat. A man in a brown suit under a streetlamp. The persistent sound of an ax chopping in the middle of the night. He keeps telling himself that this is Seaham, a sleepy seaside town where nothing ever happens. Or at least nothing did, until his dad's construction company opened up the cliff beneath...

Rhyming text explores the life and work of folk musician Pete Seeger, discussing how his messages of universal understanding and social and environmental justice inspired generations.