Constance is a wild, stubborn young girl growing up poor in a small industrial town. But beneath her thread-worn exterior beats the heart of a dreamer and a wordsmith. She feeds her hunger for reading by picking the lock on the local bookstore late at night to enjoy her own private reading room. But at age twelve, she's orphaned. With no relatives to take her in, the local authorities scheme to take charge of the bewildered girl's life. Running away to join the circus-like kids do in adventure books-seems like such a brilliant idea... or is it? That was six long years ago. Now, Constance is...