Children's Books Site Synopsis

Synopsis – West of Noreaso

Two siblings, one 12, and one 6, have been brought up in a home filled with morals and manners, not a home that would tolerate such silliness as superstition. Their Mother believed in making one's own luck in life, and had no time for flights of fancy, and certainly didn't pay any mind to such things as superstition.

However, despite their upbringing, the children find themselves caught up in a series of circumstances that they can't explain through the logic that has been instilled in them. One fateful day, they find themselves in a world foreign to them; a world where animals guide people, and a profound belief that superstition should be taken very literally is commonplace.

Adopted by three sheep, the children learn the rules of superstition as they make their way towards home, guided by Jackson's intuition. Passing through forests, graveyards and villages, and traversing canyons, rivers and mountains, the group meet a myriad of strange and exotic characters who enlighten them to all of the frightening and bizarre rules of the land. The land west of Noreaso, they discover, is a place ruled by fear. The inhabitants of this land endlessly watch their step, listen for owls and scan the ground for pennies and clovers.

When Eloise's very life becomes threatened due to a devastating superstition having played out while passing through a cemetery, the group redoubles their efforts to find the Caretaker of this land; West of Noreaso. Jackson is driven to find and destroy the book of superstitions in the Caretaker's possession. Scaling a mountain range and crossing a gorge the five friends enter the castle of the Caretaker, where it is up to Jackson to decide what course should be taken in order to get home. Will the children end up like the rest of the inhabitants west of Noreaso, adhering to the superstitions of the land? Or will the right course be to ignore the many rules and follow their own intuition?

By Michael & Lisa Poeltl