Sylvia Grumbles, an impish 13 year old girl, is curious to discover the whereabouts of her grandmother's true love: a man named Assad Ginasa - who went missing in the forests of her home town of Evendale, England. She is soon plunged into a deeper mystery involving a bothersome bird, a suspicious park ranger and a ghostly lady of the forest, all of whom lead her to Haiwaan - a fantastical world of talking animals, who sought refuge from Earth's rigours. Bemused with her presence, the animals arrest Sylvia and put her on trial at a most unjust court. Found guilty for 'crimes against nature' she is ordered to spend the rest of her life in prison, where her fellow inmates are all birds, and the guards are apes. When she is found to bear the birthmark of 'The Pureheart', a promised saviour who it is foretold will liberate Haiwaan from its corrupt rulers, her fellow inmates help her escape. She is thereafter impelled to fulfil her own legend, and only then can she free herself, the animals, and Mr.Ginasa who she finds is in peril somewhere within this perplexing land.