Set in the present day, the story is narrated by Emily, a fifteen-year-old girl from a run-down Yorkshire town who moves to South Devon following her parents’ split. She at first struggles to settle and develop friendships but, meeting a witch in Whitby, is introduced to climate change action group, the Green Witch Brigade (GWB). Emily then makes an enemy of oil company boss Jefferson G Krabb who is planning to build an oil refinery near Plymouth. She is involved in a series of adventures as an activist, but which appear to end in failure. However, following the discovery of a secret smugglers’ tunnel, Emily and her friends find a long-lost pirate treasure horde and she returns to the GWB, finally preventing Krabb’s project.

The novel has three main strands: Emily’s attempts to deal with her parent’s break-up, establishing new friends after moving from north to south, and her adventures with the GWB. Though the book was partly inspired by the many young people involved in the environmental movement and mentions the issues involved, these do not detract from the plot which remains fast paced. Most of the main characters are female but I believe the story would also appeal to boys.