Deep within the enchanted woods in the town of Watch Hollow stands the once-grand Blackford House, whose halls hold a magical secret: a giant cuckoo clock that does much more than tell time. But when the clock's gears cease to turn, an evil presence lurking among the trees begins to come out of the shadows. When Lucy and Oliver Tinker arrive in Watch Hollow, they have no idea that anything is wrong. A mysterious stranger has made their father an offer...

Boris has trouble sleeping during the day, which is bedtime for badgers, causing him to fall asleep at night school and miss such delights as exploding science experiments, funny jokes, and badgerball games.

Late at night, squids creep from the ocean to the reader's house, where they leave inky doodles on the bathtub, walls, books, and more, then escape in time to avoid the blame.

"Trip, the clumsy but streetwise raccoon, has managed to survive the zombie apocalypse with the help of animal friends and a few kind humans. But he can't help but notice one thing: he's the only raccoon in his crew. In fact, he's the only raccoon he's seen in ages. Where have all the raccoons gone? The answer to that question is scarier than any zombie hoard. People have discovered that raccoons are more than just rodents who knock over their garbage...

Booker the bat, new to his job as a security guard at the Joanina Library, foils the attempted theft of pages from one of the collection's rare books.

"Lucy is the youngest member of a family of fireflies. She wants to shine like all the others, but she's too little. Finally, one night, it's Lucy's turn. She can head off to light up the forest, but something is stopping her" --

"Sova's mother studies owls and their migration patterns, and one late night, when Sova is old enough, she accompanies her mother to observe and tag saw-whet owls in the woods"--