My name is Reason Cansino. I was named Reason because my mother, Sarafina, thought it was prettier than Logic or Rationality or Intellect . . . Reason has lived for fifteen years in the outback with her mother, Sarafina. They're on the run from Reason's grandmother, Esmeralda, who believes in magic and practices horrifying rituals. But when Sarafina suffers a mental breakdown, Reason is sent to the one place she fears most - Esmeralda's home in Sydney. Nothing about the house or Esmeralda is what Reason expected. For the first time she finds herself questioning her mother's teachings. Then, when she walks through Esmeralda's back door and finds herself on a New York City street, Reason is forced to face the shocking truth. Magic is real. And Reason is magic. The first book in Justine Larbalestier's thrilling trilogy brings readers from one country to another and through revelation upon revelation, leading to Reason's ultimate discovery of the price she must pay for the magic that lives in her blood.