Yeats is a smart kid. He knows that his dad, William, has been depressed for a very long time and that his parents are on the verge of divorce. He also knows that for some reason, this trip to his grandmothers house is a last ditch effort to save his father's sanity and marriage. Gran's house is old and kind of creepy, filled with strange and timeless wonders. Gran has one house guest, Mr. Sutcliff, who is the grandfather of a girl that William knew when he was a kid. As children, Shari and William played together and read through the books in the magical library. When Shari disappeared, William was devastated. He couldn't remember anything about her disappearance, leading him to believe he had gone insane. Shortly after arriving at Gran's house, while the adults talk about magic and history, Yeats wanders into the garden where he finds a bronze pirate bookend. When he replaces the bronze pirate in the library, he unknowingly reunites a pair of magical bookends that make him an offer. The pirates, known as Skin and Bones, have the ability to take Yeats into any story he wants. Having heard that William and Shari once got lost in the story of 1001 Arabian Nights, Yeats decides to go into the story where he believes Shari has been living for the last twenty years. What seems like a simple plan to find Shari and bring her home turns into a wild adventure that threatens to cost Yeats his life.