Danny isn't brainy or athletic so he is sent to Lily Brook Boarding School where, the brochure promises, "being not so good will finally be good enough." But when Danny arrives, he learns that there is no school--only a compound with windowless buildings surrounded by a forest from which no one has ever returned. There's also an unwelcoming dungeon, menacing guards and rumors of magic. Still, it turns out to be a place where astonishing things happen.