In the frontier village of Last Hope, people dismiss twelve-year-old Ash Narro as a flighty child who claims to hear the true names of things. But when enraged forest spirits attack, Ash shows that the names she hears have power.

After taming a destructive forest spirit, Ash teams up with Fen, a wild forest boy, and embarks on an unusual journey to save her village.

In this steampunk eco-fantasy, the perils of deforestation and the power of friendship are explored through a fantastical adventure of giant mistcats, tempestuous forest spirits, a supernatural puppy, and a girl with a special gift for shaping what things become.