The Game

Hayley was a baby when her parents vanished, and her grandparents have raised her ever since, teaching her at home. Her grandfather is often away on business, and her grandmother keeps her on a tight leash, so Hayley has never had a friend her own age. After an unexplained lapse, which she can't quite identify, she is sent to stay with aunts in Ireland. There she discovers a household full of relatives she never knew existed. The cousins spend their time playing a game that takes them into the mythosphere, a magical realm, and Hayley is soon drawn into it. Through play, she begins to understand where she truly belongs.

The novel is written by Diana Wynne Jones, the British author known for Howl's Moving Castle, and it is aimed at middle-grade readers.