Its the worst birthday of Marnie McBrides life. She half-heartedly blows out the 11 candles on her birthday cake and makes a wish. It doesnt matter that she knows it cant come true. What she wants more than anything is for her Mum to come back. Shes 11 years old today and shes never felt so lost and alone Marnie doesnt know it yet but its her fate to be touched by dangerous and irresistible magic. Shes about to set off on an epic quest a perilous adventure with the Shoebox Zoo a set of marvellous carved animals who to Marnies amazement and delight come magically to life before her very eyes. Theyre comically incompetent cantankerously obstructive and absolutely NOT to be trusted. Yet their quest will become Marnies quest: to follow a twisting trail of clues puzzles and riddles and find the lost Book of Forbidden Knowledge. This novelisation of the first series follows Marnies quest through the ancient city of Edinburgh and across Scotland.