Anu and his grandfather are happiest together, bird-watching in the forest near their home in Seattle, waiting for the rare barred owl to show up. One day Dadu suddenly dies in the woods, but his see-through spirit stays with Anu. He is desperate to get his grandfather back from the gods. With his best friend Unger, the daring Izzy Mumu next door and help from the Internet, Anu sets out to turn holy enough to perform great wonders. He visits a graveyard, shaves his head like a sadhu, lives on offerings of sandwiches and water, and rolls all the way to school—through rain and poop—like Ludkan Baba. In the end, the only hope he has left is Karnak, the awesome magician at the Mystery Museum on Divine Island… What happens when Anu finally finds himself face-to-face with Karnak—and a truth he cannot escape? Find out in this warm and funny story about how a boy deals with being foreign, being bald and being separated from someone he loves like crazy.

ANJALI BENERJEE was born in India, raised in Canada and California, and holds degrees in anthropology and psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. Anjali’s Pushcart Prize-nominated short stories have appeared in several literary journals and an anthology, and she is also a contributing writer for three regional history books. She lives in rural Washington state, USA, with her husband, three crazy and a rabbit named Friday.