Eleven-year-old Tulsi comes from a long line of women magicians, but her mother has always forbidden her to learn Big Magic. It's dangerous, thrilling, and powerful - and Tulsi wants it more than anything. But one hot summer's night, a magic trick goes horribly wrong, and her mother disappears. Only one person can bring her back, and that's Tulsi. But first, she'll have to learn a lifetime's worth of Big Magic - in just one month. It's an impossible task, especially when her teacher - her strange grandmother, Sylvie - was long ago banned from doing any Big Magic at all. Tulsi is determined to save her mum, but does she have what it takes? And where, exactly, has her mother gone?
