Hilary Sycamore

Jack dreads summer because his single mother has to work and leaves him at home with his boring little sister who is autistic. She doesn't talk at all. Ever. But one day while they are at a flea market, she does talk. She tells Jack to trade their mother's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made!

Like a bolt from the blue, Jack's little sister Maddy is gone -- carried into another realm by an ogre. When Jack and Lilly follow Maddy's captor through the portal, they are ready for anything...except what they find waiting for them in the floating crossroads between worlds. Even the power of their magic plants may not be enough to get them back to earth alive. Alone and injured, Jack and Lilly must each face their own monsters -- as well as giants...

"Three years ago an event destroyed the small city of Poughkeepsie, forever changing reality within its borders. Uncanny manifestations and lethal dangers now await anyone who enters the Spill Zone. The Spill claimed Addison's parents and scarred her little sister, Lexa, who hasn't spoken since. Addison provides for her sister by photographing the Zone's twisted attractions on illicit midnight rides. Art collectors pay top dollar for these bizarre...