When three kids discover a book of magic spells that can only be cast a few short minutes a day, they'll need all the time they can get to save a dying magical world, its last dragon, and themselves! An ordinary day turns extraordinary when twelve-year-old Cal witnesses his neighbor Modesty summon a slew of lost coins without lifting a finger. Turns out she has a secret manual of magic spells...but they only work sometimes. And they're the most boring spells ever: To Change the Color of a Room To Repair a Chimney To Walk With Stilts To Untangle Yarn Useless! But when Cal, his friend Drew, and his neighbor Modesty are suddenly transported to the world the spells come from—a world that's about to lose its last dragon—they'll have to find a way to use the oddly specific incantations to save the day, if only they can figure out when magic works. An adventure about magic, friendship, a lookout tower come to life, a maze in the shape of a dragon, an actual dragon named Phlogiston, and lots and lots of popcorn.