Kirra and her father are the traveling storytellers for their hidden village in a dormant volcano. They travel to neighboring villages gathering stories and telling tales to protect their village. One of the stories they hear is about the Takers who are marauders destroying and pillaging villages. When they return to their volcano they learn the Takers have been seen nearby. Kirra recklessly decides to leave the safety of the volcano and investigate. Of course she is seen and inadvertently leads them right back to her home. She is the only survivor.

In despair, she throws herself in the river, but is fortunately saved by Luewan of the Tree People. She lives with them for four years becoming part of their family. The Tree People are more isolated than her volcano community but the Takers eventually find them as well. Kirra must rally the entire Tree community with the help of her friends to save everyone in her new family.

This was a great adventure, fantasy novel. I liked the diverse communities we are introduced to. The world building is great and you really feel like you know what each of these communities is like. I wish there was more information on who exactly the Takers were but it makes since because our characters don't know who they are. There is really no motive for them. We are also introduced to a sort of sympathetic Taker but then never see him again which was weird. So this book could have been a bit stronger, but it was still entertaining.