In the Washwick public library, there’s one book the librarian can never keep on the shelf: Meerschnobb Tales of the Old Green Train. To the town’s children, it’s a brilliant work of fiction about a whimsical, child-run town called Old Haven that can only be reached by a “Chronally-Accelerated” green train. But for the Bonneclaire siblings, the book isn’t a story—it’s a family history.

 

Luke, Bash, and Ruby have grown up visiting Old Haven, but it’s been five long years since their last trip. When an urgent midnight summons sends them back, they find their beloved family friend, Prime Steward Augustus Bisbee, paralyzed by grief after the loss of his wife. In his absence, the town’s least imaginative Council member—a humorless man named Richard Pinchard—has stepped in as temporary Prime Steward. In a place that thrives on creativity and wonder, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

What begins as a simple mission to comfort an old friend quickly becomes a race against time. Before the Bonneclaires even realize it, they’re swept up in a string of mysteries, which—if solved—could potentially prevent the slow, quiet collapse of the most magnificent, wonder-filled town in existence.