Elsewhere

At the outbreak of

World War I, eleven-year-old Elsie Clarke is shipped off to Wales to attend Miss

Coleridge's Academy for Gifted Youths. What at first appears to be an

institution for talented academics soon reveals that 'Gifted' means something

else entirely, and only the mysterious Madam Tryll holds the answers.

Only she can open

the Gateway to The Place Where Lost Children Go - a sentient forest called

Elsewhere with the power to enhance the talents, desires, and fears of unique

souls. And then there's Elsie, the newest Guardian, with the power to open the

Gateways into Elsewhere, borrow Gifts in emergencies, and enhance other Gifts

with her touch so that her Gifted friends can grow stronger. But Elsie's powers

are unpredictable and her new role as mentor comes with a lot of

responsibility.

Meanwhile, the war

rages on, and the headmistress believes the students are the solution. She intends

to push them to their academic limit, training them in the art of war,

stripping them of their childhood. The Gifted must use their newfound talents

to bring down her awful regime and win a battle of their own. But with the war

growing ever closer to home, Elsie can't help but feel like Elsewhere has been

recruiting them too, training them for something bigger than just school.