Van has always been an outsider. Most people don't notice him. But he notices them. And he notices the small trinkets they drop, or lose, or throw away--that's why his collection is full of treasures. Then one day, Van notices a girl stealing pennies from a fountain, and everything changes. He follows the girl, Pebble, and uncovers an underground world full of wishes and the people who collect them. Apparently not all wishes are good and even good...

After plummeting through a hole in her backyard and finding herself once again in the room of mysterious jars, eleven-year-old Olive unwittingly releases two of Elsewhere's biggest, most cunning, most dangerous forces.