Ten-year-old Isabelle has a dreary life in perpetually rainy Runny Cove. She lives with her elderly grandmother in a boardinghouse and works at an umbrella factory-the town's only business. After one particularly awful day, Isabelle goes to the beach, where a boy named Sage rides in on an elephant seal. Sage whisks Isabelle away to Fortune's Farm, a delightful, magical place where Isabelle finds joy. But when Isabelle thinks back to Runny Cove, she wishes all the miserable people there could be as happy as she is. Black-and-white drawings.
Summary Isabelle’s life in Runny Cove is dismal and unfulfilling. She works long hours in the umbrella factory for little pay, then goes home to Mama Lu’s dreadful boarding house. When she learns from Mama Lu that Grandma Maxine has died, Isabelle runs away. She meets Sage, who has been looking for her. He explains to Isabelle that she is a “tender,” someone with magical abilities to make plants grow, and takes her to Fortune’s Farm to meet her family. But Nesbitt, the Head Tender, doesn’t seem to want her to stay, and Isabelle must choose whether to save the farm or save the people of Runny Cove.
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