Thirteen-year-old Leda Johnson suffers from a secret and severe case of semi-requited love–meaning she has a friend who is a boy but not her boyfriend, but she wishes he was. With “Rolling and Rocking,” St. Luke’s first annual Valentine’s Day roller skating party, rapidly approaching, Leda wonders what will come of her unspoken dream and the mysterious cat that has suddenly appeared on their deck.

When Beatrice wakes in a magical swamp called Ebenezer, she's met with the baffling wit and curious whims of the swamp's single other human inhabitant, the boy "king," Tom. But something is haunting Ebenezer, and Beatrice must solve the mystery of the swamp before a lurking terror devours them both.