Elena heads into the forest to retrieve her baby brother who has been stolen by the witch Baba Yaga, and as she journeys she stops to help other creatures that give her magical items she is going to need to get herself and the baby back home safely.
A little girl called Too Nice is sent by her playmates, Horrid and Very Horrid, to Baba Yaga the witch's hut to bring back a magical toad. Too Nice's doll, a gift from her mother, helps her on her mission.
In alternating voices, sixteen-year-old Chicagoan Anne and handsome, magical Ethan tell of their fated quest to rescue Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia, who tells of her long captivity in the hut of legendary witch Baba Yaga.
A tzar's fear of going to the edge of the world grows when Baba Yaga threatens him, but in time he learns that fear of the unknown is a senseless fear.