Twelve-year-old Mary Lyttle is sitting on the floor of a bookstore when a strange-looking blank book drops into her lap from a shelf above. Moments later, she falls into the book and lands in an earlier time. Relieved that her beloved crystal medallion is still around her neck, she notices an ancient ship anchored nearby. After the captain and his family convince Mary that she must be there for some reason, she boards the ship crewed by talking monkeys. After they set sail, they discover an island, decide to explore, and become stuck in thick ice. After they summon help from an old hermit, they finally break free—only to be captured by pirates who take them to their volcanic island hideaway. As Mary and the others are being prepared for ritual sacrifice to their captors' evil god, they escape with assistance from animals. But what Mary does not know is that her adventures are just beginning, and that her necklace is there to help her. Will she ever find her way back home, and who will inherit the necklace next? Mayhem and Monkeyshines is an exciting tale of adventure as a twelve-year-old girl and others time travel into a fictional world with more questions than answers.