Young Christopher and his mother have moved to escape an abusive man and begin their new life in the middle-of-nowhere town of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. Being the new kid at a new school is always challenging, even more so when you’ve got dyslexia. Christopher finds himself the target of the school bullies and seeks solace in his small group of friends. Then one day, Christopher vanishes, only to return a week later with zero recollection of where he was or what happened to him while he was missing. Despite having no memory of his time spent in the Mission Street Woods, Christopher is not unchanged. The boy is suddenly a genius. The words don’t rearrange themselves on the pages when he’s reading, and he finds himself excelling in school.
After his test answers win his mother the lottery, Christopher begins to hear a voice in his head, instructing him to build a tree house by Christmas. What happens if he doesn’t complete his task? He’s not quite sure. As the construction of the treehouse commences, Christopher finds himself drawn into the world of the Nice Man, the voice inside his mind. The Nice Man resides in the Imaginary World, a mirror image of the world Christopher lives in with sinister undertones. As Christopher develops his relationship with the Nice Man, the young boy receives powers unlike he’s ever seen before. There is an itch in his head and this itch tells him the thoughts of the townsfolk around him, friend and foe.
His powers do not come without a cost. As Christopher’s mental powers grow stronger, his body begins to fail. All of this comes to a head when Christopher is tasked with freeing the Nice Man from the Imaginary world, and the true nature of his new friend is revealed. Will good truly triumph over evil? Or will the world fall victim to the devil lurking inside us all?
