Peter Huddleston lived a dull life in a quiet town with his decidedly normal father and stepmother; he awoke each morning with the intention to fit in and be like everyone else. But something always seemed to get in the way of those best intentions.

With his prized boomerang constantly in his fingers, Peter blunders from one misunderstanding to another until his exasperated father bundles him off for the summer to visit his aunt Gillian at her home, Hillside Manor.

Peter quickly learns that Hillside Manor is no ordinary summer retreat, and that his mother's sister is anything but an ordinary woman. Within its vast walls, and 3,000 rooms, the wondrous Hillside houses many secrets, including the fact that it serves as gateway between our world and the mysterious Galadria, where Peter's mother's family currently rules. Peter has been summoned to Hillside to learn that he is the only heir to his royal family, and to determine if he is prepared to face The Rites of Passage.

The rites are not the only challenges Peter will face during his summer of tutelage at the hands of his aunt and her strange and fascinating entourage. Peter is embroiled in the dynastic challenge as his aunt's heir, inheriting the enmity of Knor of the House of Shadowray, who covets the crown of Galadria.

With his trusty boomerang and armed with magical trinkets, Peter gamely faces the challenges to prove himself in this eccentric and privileged world. Aid comes from strange and unexpected places, but inexorably Peter is pushed and tested to his breaking point. His successes put him in evermore peril and catapult him closer to a confrontation with Knor, and to a grizzly realization that he might not survive the summer!