On the last night of summer, Emma and her Maine game warden father rescue a small domestic rabbit stuck in a fence; the very next day Emma starts fifth grade after years of being home schooled, excited and apprehensive about making new friends, but she is paired with Jack, a hyperactive boy, who does not seem to fit in with anyone--except that they share a love of animals, which draws them together, because of the rabbit.

"Welcome to Almost, Maine, a town that's so far north, it's almost not in the United States--it's almost in Canada. And it almost doesn't exist, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it's just...Almost. One cold, clear Friday night in the middle of winter, while the northern lights hover in the sky above, Almost's residents find themselves falling in and out of love in the strangest ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken....

When a new family moves into town, sixteen-year-old Alessia learns that she is a member of the Benandanti, a cult of warriors capable of transforming into animals.