Finding Queen Calafia

Queen Calafia chronicles the journey of two tweens -- nature nerd Talia Mayfield and her scrappy nomad pal Cass Arauso -- on their harrowing quest to find the legendary warrior queen of California and restore her to the throne.

While wandering the grounds of the estate of the retired anthropology professor who employs Mrs. Mayfield, Talia and Cass accidentally stumble through a doorway to a wild place that bears resemblance to their own suburban Red Oaks Valley. They keep their discovery a secret when they learn that they have ventured into another dimension entirely -- the mythic California described in the 15th century chivalric romance Las Sergas de Esplandián in which a tribe of warrior women defend the land on the backs of monstrous griffins. It may be no coincidence that the professor owns an original copy of this book.

Guided by a mysterious mushroom gatherer who calls herself Amanita, the girls spend their afternoons exploring, encountering strange new plants and animals in the terrestrial paradise known as the Dodona Bosque. In this borderland between worlds, danger lurks.

After Cassandra's cousin Luis is kidnapped, the girls soon find themselves in a race in and against time to prevent the Conquistador Nuño de Guzmán, a sorcerer who seeks to enslave Calafia's people and thereby change the future of California by altering its past, from gaining full power. The girls must rescue the queen from a prison made from her own dreams in an uncharted place called The Bliss Dimension ("The Bliss"). Only the professor can help them find The Bliss, and she has her own plans.

As in all great quests, there is a heroic dog.