Protagonist Valentine Marsh is a street-smart fourteen-year-old whose callous attitude is often a veneer that covers her insecurity and her need for affection. She is the scapegoat for her classmates who tell her "you're dumb and you're ugly and you've got no friends and you dress like a reject from the Salvation Army." Alienated from schoolmates and largely forgotten by her father, Valentine finds that her mother is the only person she can talk to, but even that is often difficult for her.

Although Valentine inadvertently sets the adventure in motion when she wishes for the statue Jagiello to "come back and get things fixed the way they belong," Valentine discovers that despite the affection and support of her grandmother and the musician-sorcerer Paavo, she must resolve this quest herself. In this way, the quest to recover King Jagiello tests Valentine so that she...