The author of Half Magic is back with his large family, Mark Katherine, Jane, Martha, their mother and their stepfather, Mr. Smith, to transport them to a lake for the summer. The four children are primed for magic and it comes quite unobtrusively through a mild but determined turtle who says they may have three wishes. They lead to such far flung realms as piracy and boat house dances and, as is the way with magic, leave a final and unexpected reward.