In the middle of the Atlantic a doorway opens without warning. Through this doorway is a dark island that wasn’t there moments before.

Thirteen-year-old Annabelle Cross has traveled this stretch of the ocean before. But in her memories there has never been an island here. It doesn’t take long to discover it’s a place unlike any other. In the black woods she will find a group of children who will show her everything the island offers to those chosen to stay…forever.

The children have two important rules. Never leave the tree houses at night, because the shadows will take you. And, never wander into the woods alone, because the paths have a strange way of changing behind you. Two basic rules Annabelle simply can’t seem to follow.

There is hope of escape for those eager to take it. It lays deep in the island, hidden away from those holding them here. It happens to be the only answer to find their way back home.