Momo, ’n klein, verflenterde dogtertjie, woon aan die rand van ’n groot stad in die ruïne van ’n amfiteater.

Sy besit niks buiten dit wat sy vind of wat sy van ander ontvang nie, maar sy het ’n buitengewone gawe: Sy luister werklik na ander en gee vir hulle tyd. Een dag ruk die gruwelike grys menere met hulle loodgrys aktetasse en sigare in die groot stad op en begin om die kosbare tyd van die mense te steel.

Momo is die enigste een wat die donker mag van die tyddiewe kan beteuel.

'Are you brave?' When the mysterious Amelia Pigeon turns up at Kirby's bedroom window in the dead of night, this is the question she asks him -- right before they tumble into a world of ancient malevolent spirits who have torn their way into Kirby's quiet seaside village. Kirby isn't feeling brave at all. His mother is in a coma following a freak (or was it?) accident, and he's hardly talking to his dad. He's convinced a spider is spying on him, and now a weird girl in a yellow raincoat -- who claims to be a powerful, evil-banishing Shadowsmith -- is dragging him into unknown danger. How brave is he really? Ross MacKenzie, author of award-winning The Nowhere Emporium, weaves a world of magic and adventure which twists and turns magnificently, and keeps thrilled young readers guessing right to the end.