This summer Lina Uesugi will be staying in Misty Valley, a mysterious Japanese village that can only be located with the help of a magical umbrella. Consisting of a single street and six buildings, Misty Valley is home to both fantastical creatures and humans descended from sorcerers. To earn room and board at Picotto Hall (owned by small, severe Ms. Pippity Picotto), Lina is told she must work. And so, she does: She organizes books at the used bookstore, helps a former ship’s captain and his loquacious parrot clean up the mess in their shop, dusts the wares at the pottery shop, and helps staff the toy shop. Lina’s work duties, though, extend beyond the mundane. She identifies a prince that was transformed into a piece of pottery and helps break his curse. She reunites the son of the toy shop owner with his long-lost mother. Bit by bit she finds herself winning over the hearts of Misty Valley’s inhabitants. At the end of the summer, Lina’s new friends send her home with gifts—one of which is the magical umbrella, an invitation to return to Misty Valley next summer. Whimsical and mildly uncanny, this translated fantasy novel with a kind and curious protagonist is an escapist delight with a timeless feel.