In the height of summer in Qiufeng Town, cicadas shriek through the muggy air. Twelve-year-old Mo Duoduo wipes the sweat from the tip of his nose, his mind packed with questions hotter than the weather. Why does everyone in town hang strange straw dolls on their doors and windows every July? Why are his parents so reluctant to talk about it?
When transfer student Fu You arrives with a toolbox full of bizarre inventions, when class monitor Yao Tingting uncovers scattered records of forbidden practices in ancient texts, and when the kids' ringleader Hu Sha discovers a forbidden area in the hills behind town, a secret buried beneath the dust for a hundred years finally begins to reveal itself to this group of boys.
Old Charlie from the folklore museum hesitates to speak. The forest witch issues a warning, while behind Mayor Zhao Qian's smile lies a cold determination to stop them. Mo Duoduo and his endlessly inquisitive friends step by step enter the shadows beneath Qiufeng Town's polished surface. The ancient customs are not superstition, but a seal. The townspeople's obedience is not tradition, but fear. This summer, they will use courage and wit to uncover the astonishing truth buried deep in the foundations of their town.
It's beautiful and the writing is very real.