Impoverished Vermont farm girl Lyddie Worthen is determined to gain her independence by becoming a factory worker in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1840s.

Now thirteen, Meggie "reads" herself into Inkworld, where she, her family, and the characters in the book face chaos and danger as the original creator of the world frantically tries to redirect the story. When Dustfinger, the fire-eater who was brought into being from words, finds a shady storyteller to read him back into the medieval world, Farid, Dustfinger's apprentice, searches for Meggie and ends up stuck inside the book with her.

For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest. When their warrior code is threatened by mysterious deaths, a house cat named Rusty may turn out to be the bravest warrior of all.