After their mother falls mysteriously ill, eleven-year-old twins Gus and Leo and their mute younger sister, Ila, learn that they share their mother's ability to transform into animals, and to defeat the evil King of the Black Lakes, they must harness this newfound power.

"Nine-year-old Julian almost died when he was born and he believes that he has a special connection to the universe because of that, and he wants to make his two moms and his sister (who turned into a black hole of discontentment when she turned fourteen) happy because he is convinced that soon he will die and travel to the dog star--but now they have moved to Maine and he resolves to also use his "uni-sense" ability to help Mr. X, their neighbor,...