Easy Summary- The Forest That Walked at Midnight
There is a strange forest all around the quiet town of Willowmere. Everything looks fine during the day, but the forest moves every nite. There are times when roads go away, rivers change course, and people wake up in places they didn't expect to be. The people in the village try to explain these strange events, but thirteen-year-old Elia Vale thinks there is more going on.
Elia is brave, interested, and good at noticing little things. A notebook that she keeps with her is full of maps, dates, and drawings. She longs to know that the trees are not moving around randomly after watching them for a long time. They're moving east slowly.
Elia makes herself stay awake past midnight one nite. She sees things that can't happen. The roots of the trees rise up and start to walk. The forest moves toward Dreadmere Keep, an old, broken-down fortress.
Later, Elia finds out that something dangerous and old is buried under the castle. A long time ago, people, magicians, people who lived in the forest, animals, and trees all fought against the Hollow King, a terrible enemy. The forest around Willowmere is part of an old army that helped beat him in the past.
My bigger brother Rowan is a magician, but most of his magic is broken. He travels with Elia. Tavi is a tiny warrior from the Fernkin people who live in secret. They learn together that the Hollow King is waking up again.
Additionally, Elia finds out that she is a Listener, which means she can understand what trees remember and how they feel. She listens to the forest instead of telling it what to do, which helps it get back together.
The forest beats the Hollow King in the end by remembering that all living things are linked. The trees stop moving when there is no longer any danger.
The story shows that being brave, having friends, remembering things, working together, and paying close attention to the world around us are all things that can make us strong.
THE END