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"Here in the Cellar," Corinna says, "I control the Folk. Here, I'm queen of the world." As Folk Keeper at the Rhysbridge Home, she feeds the fierce, dark-dwelling cave Folk; keeps them from souring the milk, killing the chickens, and venting their anger on the neighborhood; and writes it all down in her Folk Record. Since only boys are Folk Keepers, she has disguised herself as a boy, Corin, and it is a boy and a Folk Keeper she intends to stay.

Yet there comes a moment when someone else knows the truth. Old, dying Lord Merton not only knows she is a girl, but knows some of her other secrets as well. It is at his bidding that she, as Corin, leaves Rhysbridge to become Folk Keeper and a member of the family on Cliffsend, an isle where the Folk are fiercer than ever they were at Rhysbridge.

It is on Cliffsend that Corinna comes face to face with herself, with the powers she does have (some quite unexpected) and those she does not have (even if she lies and says she does). Who really is she? Why does her hair grow two inches a night? Why does the sea draw her? What does she really want? And what future can and will she choose?

"A coin for passage to your heart's desire," says Agnes, Guardian of the Wishing Well in the village of Bishop Mayne. "That is the first rule." But Nuria doesn't think she needs a wish. Wishing on the Well is dangerous. Wishes often go wrong. That's why there are no other children around. A wish-gone-wrong took them all away. But now, because her grandfather, the Avy, has wished for them to come back, Nuria is sure that the one thing she wants -- a friend her own age -- will soon be there.

"One wish each lifetime," says Agnes. "One cycle of the moon to repent and call it back. That is the second rule." Only a fool would make a wish that needs to be called back, Nuria thinks. But that's before she meets Catty Winter, who cannot walk, whose legs are mysteriously crippled. "Make a wish for me," Catty pleads. And Nuria is tempted. But what if the wish goes wrong?

"And for that cycle of the moon your lips are locked in this: To no one may you speak of your wish. To no one but to me, for your wish is my wish too. That is the third rule." Nuria has given little thought to the third rule. But there come moments when she wishes it did not exist. The Wishing Well, she is trickier than anyone has known.

The Wishing Well in Bishop Mayne has a mind of its own and creates problems for all who try to use its power. Few have gotten anything but misery from it. Knowing this, however, does not keep Nuria, in a time of dire need, from trying to accomplish what few others have managed.

Beauty and greed, warmth and cold, walk hand in hand in this unusual fantasy to create an adventure filled with friendship, challenge, and the magic of love.

Before Briony's stepmother died, she made sure Briony blamed herself for all the family's hardships. Now Briony has worn her guilt for so long it's become a second skin. She often escapes to the swamp, where she tells stories to the Old Ones, the spirits who haunt the marshes. But only witches can see the Old Ones, and in her village, witches are sentenced to death. Briony lives in fear her secret will be found out, even as she believes she deserves the worst kind of punishment.

Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and mane of tawny hair. He's as natural as the sun, and treats her as if she's extraordinary. And everything starts to change. As many secrets as Briony has been holding, there are secrets even she doesn't know.