All stories are true. Emma Wilkins is eleven years old and she lives on Belle Street. In the forests of Saint Martin, a great power has awakened. Whispers abound of a monster that lurks in the darkness as more and more of the city's residents go missing. Called by the song of a tree, the diminutive Emma finds herself face to face with the colossal Minotaur. Following a narrow escape, Emma discovers that she is the only one who has any chance to stop him. On her...

Emma was sitting on a bench next to a bus stop. It was morning on a busy street and the road in front of her was full of traffic. There was a bus shelter next to the bench and there were a few people inside. They were looking at her. A woman was sitting next to her but she stood up and walked away. Emma glanced toward the people in the shelter and they all looked away at once and pretended that she wasn’t there. She looked down at her lap and saw that she was ho...