The Guardian Test

Plum is stunned to learn she has earned a place at the Guardian Academy, a selective school on Lotus Island. Its students train to become Guardians, magical beings charged with safeguarding the natural world. Under the direction of the school's masters, they learn to speak with animals and to practice meditation as a way of building both mental and physical strength. Combat is also part of the curriculum, since every student must be prepared to defend those who cannot defend themselves.

Plum, however, finds the work difficult. As her peers start to shift into remarkable animal forms, she has yet to produce so much as a feather. Unless she can bring out her animal self soon, she will be sent away from the academy, and with it, the first true friendships she has ever had.