Chickentown, Minnesota, is about a boring as a place can be--at least that is what teenaged Candy Quackenbush thinks. When confronted with a school assignment to learn about the town, however, Candy uncovers some interesting facts which lead her to a lighthouse on the outskirts of town. Before she really has time to think about why the landlocked town would have a lighthouse, though, she finds herself (and the lighthouse) whisked away to the land of Abarat, where magic rules and her best chance of survival is with an eight-headed con man who goes by the name of Mischief. This is the first volume of a projected quartet.