Tamborel eagerly awaits the day he will have his own heynim, the musical chimes that float in the air above the heads of adults and teenagers, keeping literal and figurative harmony among the citizens of Alyafaleyn. But long after his peers have "snagged" their first heynim, the space above Tamborel's head remains silent and empty. The villagers wonder about Tamborel's odd inability to snag heynim, but are far more interested in discussing his friend Caidrun. Precocious Caidrun wields a power far beyond her years over all heynim, and when she uses that power on a whim she becomes feared and shunned by all except Tamborel. In a genre that sometimes seems overrun with derivative stories and archetypes, Grace Chetwin has created a unique plot and realistic protagonists in this first volume of a new series. (Ages 10-14)

Into Alyafaleyn, where harmony is kept by the chimes called heynim that people draw to them through the air, are born two special people--Tamborel, who cannot attract heynim, and Caidrun, who has great power over them.