Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he's supposed to possess amazing talent -- and she's supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild.
With wit and wonder, Patricia Wrede creates an alternate history of westward expansion that will delight fans of both J. K. Rowling and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

This book was recognised in the Grades 7-9 category by the Young Reader's Choice Award.

This book is part of a book series called Frontier Magic .

There are 352 pages in this book. This book was published 2009 by Scholastic US .

Patricia C. Wrede has written all four books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles as well as Sorcery & Cecilia , The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician , co-written with Caroline Stevermer. Ms. Wrede lives and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.