Don't Breathe a Word

Don't Breathe a Word is the first book I've read by Jennifer McMahon and, throughout most of the book, I didn't know what to make of it. Is it a mystery or is it fantasy? I swung back and forth in my opinion. I wasn't sure if I was fascinated, repelled or just really, really interested in knowing the truth, and I'm still not sure I truly understood the "truth". Are you confused now? Join the club. And, yet, this won't be the last book I'll read by this author. In fact, I've already made plans to read her backlist. Guess that tells you something. One night, Lisa, a 12-year-old girl who is fascinated by fairies and especially the King of the Fairies, walks into the Vermont forest behind her home and never comes back. She is headed for Reliance, a sort of ghost town that everyone talks about, saying that all the inhabitants disappeared simultaneously, leaving behind all their belongings, never to return. Lisa isn't sure that the old stories about Reliance are true, but she and her younger brother Sam and cousin Evie have been visiting the ruins in the forest and looking for clues and also looking for fairies. She's sure that she will one day meet Teilo, the King of the Fairies, and he will make her his queen.