A middle grade novel about family, friendship, and the restorative power of the imagination.

Twelve-year-old Lucy Gray is convinced Grandpa’s precious emerald belt buckle is evil—just like the ring in their favorite book, The Lord of the Rings. When the buckle came into her family’s life, it caused a terrible rift, and since Grandpa’s death, everyone keeps fighting over it. Determined to save her family, Lucy sneaks off on an epic quest to destroy the buckle.

As the One Ring was destroyed in a fiery volcano, Lucy decides the best place to destroy the buckle is in the supervolcano of Yellowstone National Park (300 miles away), where her family used to vacation. She gains an eccentric fellowship of allies along the journey, including Hobbit-loyal Maximo Rodriguez and a bearded warrior not unlike the brave dwarf from the book. But Lucy begins to question whether her runaway imagination has led her down a fool’s path as allies become enemies and the quest turns into a dangerous chase, thanks to her resentful cousin, Gunner, who won’t stop hunting her and Max until he gets the buckle for himself. With Max’s practical-minded help, Lucy must learn to separate truth from fiction if she’s going to heal her family.