Sparkle Valley Book 1:

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

Here is a summary of the chapters. It's informal and quick, but will give you an idea of what the story is about and maybe answer some of the questions that come up.

Spoiler Warning: This guide summarizes the full plot of Sparkle Valley, including the ending.

Chapter 1: The Magic Garden

Summary

The story starts off with an action scene with Abigail and Emily in the Magic Garden. A storm kicks up and they leave Ivana there by mistake. Also, it looks like she might have a broken leg. But Emily is distracted by her phone. And when Abigail asks her about going back to get Ivana, she hesitates. The rain is coming down hard, and then Emily delivers the big line that sets up the rest of the story. She says: “Ivana is tough. And besides, she’s just a toy.”

Abigail doesn't like this comment one bit, and doesn't like the fact that Emily seems to be distracted by her phone and being pulled away from their imaginative world in the Magic Garden.

In this chapter we meet a number of characters including Abigail, Emily, Ivana, a bear, and the Bobblehead Soldiers. Also, the magic cane with the blue gemstone is introduced, Abigail’s golden heart shaped locket given to her by Emily, Emily’s cell phone, the forget-me-nots that seem to have magical properties.

One of the big concepts that's introduced here is that the idea that Emily's imagination can transform the Magic Garden. Toys come alive inside Emily's imagination.

Chapter 2: The River’s Roar

Summary

In Chapter 2 Abigail's role changes from just being a witness to actually being a participant. She becomes the story.

Emily wakes up the next morning, and Abigail has spent the whole night worrying about Ivana. Remember, she was left there in the garden in the storm the previous day. Emily seems less affected than Abigail.

After eating breakfast, Emily decides it’s safe now to go search for Ivana in the garden. But she's gone. They check the spot where they think she was injured, but there’s nothing. After some searching, they do find her pink floppy hat near the water, and they suspect that she was likely carried away by the storm.

But then Emily turns the situation around by creating an imaginative rescue mission. She declares that the Wrongway River must've carried Ivana off and that they're going to bring her back. So she turns her purple polka-dot umbrella into a magic ship and fills it with magic flowers for flower power.

And as her imagination comes alive, the ordinary stream is transformed into the mighty Wrongway river.

Then the rescue begins. But once again, there's an interruption. Emily's cell phone rings. And while she's texting with her friend Charlotte, the umbrella ship gets caught on some rocks. Emily tries to free it while she's on the phone and the magic begins to fade. The Wrong Way River turns again into the little creek behind their house. Abigail is upset at this. And her anger re-awakens the river. All of a sudden it surges with power.

Now a series of events occurs that will change everything. The umbrella breaks free from the rocks and Emily slips and falls, letting go of Abigail. Abigail is swept down the raging river. Separated from Emily, she manages to grab hold of the umbrella ship and climb inside. She thinks she’s safe. But then she sees it. A huge waterfall disappearing into nowhere. The chapter ends with her going over the waterfall.

Some new concepts introduced in this chapter are the garden’s transformation through imagination, the Wrongway river, flower power, and Abigail's emotional power affecting the world around her.

The major developments in this chapter are that Ivana is missing, Emily had created Sparkle Valley as a destination for the rescue mission. And the most important one is that Abigail is now separated from Emily and is headed towards Sparkle Valley. She is now the story.

Chapter 3: “Impossible!”

Summary

In this chapter Abigail believes she has arrived in Sparkle Valley. After surviving the fall down the waterfall, she ends up shipwrecked in a precarious spot on a peninsula. Across the river, she sees a beautiful forest and wonders “Is this Sparkle Valley?” Behind her there's a menacing looking cave that looks like the mouth of a monster. And because there are cliffs and falling rocks everywhere that block every other route, she doesn't have a choice. She has to go through this cave.

But before she enters, something important happens. She meets Doris Tortoise.

I’m going to give you a little back story here, not to spoil anything, but so you can keep it in the back of your mind as you read. Emily has a grandmother named Grandma Doris, who she loves, and we'll see that she plays a big role in her life. I'll leave it at that for now, but let’s pick it up again with Abigail meeting Doris Tortoise at the entrance to this scary looking cave.

Doris Tortoise offers Abigail a jar of fireflies so she can find her way through the dark cave. But since Abigail doesn't have any money, Doris asks her for her locket. But Abigail refuses, and Doris respects this. She says that there's nothing more important or powerful than a sister's love. That’s a very important line in the story. Because this locket represents sisterly love. Emily gave it to Abigail on their shared birthday.

So then, instead of demanding the locket for the fireflies, Doris asks for a word from her vocabulary. Abigail tries to give away a silly word, but Doris insists that she wants something valuable. And this is when Abigail says “Impossible!”

Bingo! This is the word that Doris wants. Because as she says, "Nothing is impossible." Possibilities are endless. So Abigail agrees to this and trades away the word impossible for a jar of fireflies.

At the end of the chapter, Abigail enters the cave (later we find out it’s called Conundrum Cave) with the fireflies, some chalk to mark her route, determined to find Ivana.

The concepts introduced in this chapter include the locket as a symbol of sisterly love. Also the word, “impossible” and using words for currency. Words have real value and consequences in Sparkle Valley. And then there is Conundrum Cave.

As far as major developments in this chapter, obviously Abigail arriving in Sparkle Valley is a big one. The introduction of Doris Tortoise. Also, the fact that Abigail realizes that she can't return home the way she came. Her umbrella is destroyed.

Chapter 4: Conundrum Cave

Summary

Now we're into chapter 4, and things are moving. Abigail has entered Conundrum Cave. She's got her jar of fireflies and her piece of blue chalk to mark her route. The cave quickly becomes very dangerous and she starts slipping down a steep hill. She lands in something that's totally unexpected and very upsetting.

A large cavern and it's filled with discarded toys, all kinds, and in all kinds of states. Abigail even wonders whether "someone or something had pulled them apart at the seams."

Included among them are some of Emily's old dolls and toys. There’s a doll named Liza Bell that Abigail immediately recognizes. It dawns on Abigail that many of these forgotten dolls and toys were Emily’s. But how did they end up here?

Following Doris’s advice, she uses her chalk to mark her route while she tries to navigate through the endless maze. One quick note here: Abigail marks her route with chalk hearts. Just a little detail, but it is symbolic of her character.

But now the fireflies are starting to fade and all of a sudden she hears heavy footsteps in the darkness. She's being chased by a giant version of Emily's old wind-up gorilla, Tom-Tom Timmy.

While she's running away from the gorilla, she trips and loses her firefly lantern. And then she's rescued by Gloria, her old ragdoll friend who was once one of Emily's favorite dolls, but has now been forgotten.

Gloria tells Abigail that she's been lost in the cave ever since Emily outgrew her.

Gloria and Abigail search for a way out of the cave and just as the gorilla is about to catch up to them, they find an exit. But in their desperate rush to escape the gorilla, they run off a cliff and start plunging toward the rocks down below. That's how the chapter ends.

Chapter 5: The Frog Prince

Summary

This is a fun chapter. We get to meet one of my favorite characters, Reggie the frog. Prince Reginald J Frogg. He's a frog who thinks he's a prince and he's got Abigail and Gloria trapped in an elaborate net device after they fall out of the cliff.

He, like in the fairytale, insists that a kiss from a princess will turn him into a prince, which is his true form. Abigail wants to tell him the truth, but Gloria stops her. She says: "You shouldn't tell anyone the truth about themselves until they're ready to hear it."

Both Abigail and Gloria reluctantly kiss him, but alas, nothing happens. No prince. Despite his disappointment, Reggie agrees to help them in their quest to find Ivana.

This is when they find out about the Queen of Mean, the powerful ruler of Sparkle Valley who possesses a magic cane with a sapphire gemstone.

Remember this cane is what appeared in the first chapter so of course Abigail suspects something is up.

Reggie, however, talks about a different lead, a character named Smortzle, who lives beyond the Forest of Memories, and offers to take them there.

But before they can do that, there's an earthquake and rockslide. Reggie guides them to safety, and when the earthquake subsides, they take off toward the Forest of Memories and the Smortzle.

Chapter 6: The Forest of Memories

Summary

OK, let's move to Chapter 6. Here I remember thinking that things are getting amped up.

And it’s because Reggie, Abigail, and Gloria are entering the Forest of Memories and about to come face to face with some Inzos.

Inzos are shadowy winged creatures that feed on painful memories. As one circles lazily overhead, we see Abigail starting to relive moments that she would rather forget. Like being excluded from Grandma Doris’s visits, or being ignored by Emily's friends. There’s this disturbing sense that Emily is starting to hide stuff from her, her true feelings.

Gloria also experiences painful memories of her own, how Emily seemed embarrassed by her before sending her away.

As the Inzos continue to gather, Abigail becomes overwhelmed with sadness and fear, and she starts to run through the forest to escape the creatures.

She ends up in a clearing called Mystic Meadow, and that's where she discovers the Smortzle’s home, a rundown yellow school bus. The chapter ends with her knocking on the door of the bus.

Link:
Inzos

Chapter 7: The Smortzle

Summary

Abigail, Gloria and Reggie enter the Smortzle’s school bus in Mystic Meadow. Inside there are hundreds, if not thousands, of glowing blue butterflies. They're on every surface in the bus. And when the Smortzle arrives, he explains that these are the inner sparks that he took from those abandoned toys in the cave.

He explained that he once was the guardian of the cave. And he convinced them to trade in their inner sparks in exchange for relief from the sadness of being forgotten. Once they were separated from their inner sparks, they became lifeless and they were trapped in Conundrum Cave.

Also, another revelation in this chapter is that the Queen of Mean stole the Smortzle’s magical cane and that's what prevented him from collecting any more sparks in the cave.

Also, at this point, Abigail begins to suspect that the evil queen might not be evil at all. Is she perhaps Emily?

Then Abigail asks the Smortzle about Ivana and he claims to know where she is, but will only tell her in exchange for her locket. Abigail refuses to hand it over, but says she will give it to him once he brings them to Ivana.

Just before they're about to leave, another tremor strikes Sparkle Valley and shakes the bus. After it ends, the Smortzle agrees to lead them to a place called No Place, where he claims that Ivana will be waiting.

Chapter 8: No Place

Summary

Here we open with the Smortzle leading the gang up the staircase to No Place. As they're going up, they see clearly that what the tremors are doing to Sparkle Valley. The landscape has changed dramatically, and not for the better. And Abigail is starting to realize that Sparkle Valley may actually exist independently of Emily, and that something much bigger is actually threatening this world.

Once they get to the top of the staircase, they reach No Place and there’s a big field with a gazebo (quick note: there is a gazebo in the Magic Garden as well). Inside the gazebo there appears to be a stone statue of a bear. The Smortzle says that this statue is actually Ivana, but she’s been transformed into a statue of a bear by the Queen of Mean.

Because she's desperate enough to believe he's telling the truth, Abigail gives the Smortzle her locket in exchange for some magic dust that supposedly will wake up the statue of the bear and turn it into Ivana.

At first, the dust appears to be working, but then the Smortzle laughs and says it was a trick all along. The statue suddenly comes to life and turns into Scruffy, Emily's first teddy bear, who no longer remembers Emily or his past.

A moment later, magical bars come down and trap all four of them in the gazebo.

As he turns away to leave, the Smortzle laughs and admits that he never knew where Ivana was to begin with. It was all a ruse. He takes Abigail's locket and leaves.

But then, as they stand there trapped in the gazebo, they hear a marching band approaching No Place. The band, which consists of a group of bobblehead soldiers (remember the first chapter in the garden) and their leader, Major Bob, announces that they've been sent by the Queen of Mean to find Abigail. This is how the chapter ends.

Chapter 9: The Bobblehead Brigade

Summary

We pick things up with the gang still in the gazebo, but then Major Bob and the Bobblehead Brigade play music and the bars magically disappear. They are free thanks to the magical power of music.

In Major Bob's words: "Here in Sparkle Valley, there is magic in melody."

Then Major Bob explains that the Queen of Mean has specifically ordered that Abigail be brought to her. He doesn't reveal details and is evasive when Abigail asks about Ivana. He makes it clear that the Queen knows about her locket and wants it.

When Abigail tells them that the locket was taken by the Smortzle, they leave to retrieve the locket.

Meanwhile, Abigail and the gang use the WangoWhirl, an incredible slide that takes them down a mountain through a forest to Wildflower Field. And it’s there that they spot the enormous Pink Palace.

Abigail can't even think of the word "impossible" anymore. So she substitutes another word instead.

Then, from inside the seemingly abandoned palace they hear the cries from a princess who’s trapped in a tower. Reggie hears this and takes off because he thinks he's finally found his princess, who will restore him to his true self and turn him back into a prince.

But instead, they see he has fallen into a trap. Abigail discovers poor Reggie trapped inside a glass jar on a table, transformed into a small ordinary frog with no fancy clothes or ability to talk.

And then something big happens. The ruler of Sparkle Valley‚—the Queen of Mean—appears from the shadows.

It’s Ivana.

Ivana is the Queen of Mean!

Chapter 10: "Click, Clack, Schhhhwop"

Summary

This is a big chapter. A lot happens here, so buckle up.

After Abigail finds Reggie under the glass, and the Queen of Mean is revealed to be Ivana, there's a big confrontation.

First of all, Ivana reveals that time moves differently in the valley, and that she has been there for a long time, much longer than Abigail realizes. And then she explains how she used the magic cane to become ruler of Sparkle Valley and how she commanded the Inzos and the Bobblehead Brigade

And then to show her power, she transforms Gloria into a pile of rags, and Scruffy into an ordinary teddy bear. And then she starts in on Abigail.

She tells her why she hates her and also why she's obsessed with the golden locket. I won't go into the details here, but you can imagine.

Ivana reveals a lot of painful things, and then in a climactic scene, she forces Abigail to confront the truth that she has never fully understood.

Abigail is not Emily's actual sister at all. Despite being called her sister that through the years, she's actually just a doll like the rest of them. Nothing special.

Ivana talks about all the jealousy and resentment she felt, and traces it all back to the original birthday party, where Emily gave the locket to Abigail with the words engraved "for my sister." It was at that moment, Ivana reveals, that she first felt replaced. And felt the first small tremor.

And then she talks about a new threat that lies beneath Sparkle Valley. The Beast. According to Ivana, it's because Emily is growing up and losing her attachment to her toys. The tremors are increasing, reflecting the Beast's growing power.

Then she demands a locket from Abigail because she wants to use its power to give to the Beast. But when Abigail tells her that she doesn't have it and the Smortzle has it, Ivana says she no longer has any need for her. Using the magic cane, she imprisons Abigail on a shelf. Now she's as helpless and lifeless as the others. It's just four of them sitting in a room. Lifeless and helpless, as Ivana shuffles out of the room with her broken leg (suffered in the fall in Chapter 1).

Link:
The Beast

Chapter 11: The Inner Spark

Summary

We find the gang trapped in the identities that Ivana imposed on them. Reggie, an ordinary frog. Gloria is a pile of rags. Scruffy is just a teddy bear. And Abigail sits there—a lifeless doll on a shelf. Time passes.

Bob and the Bobblehead Brigade arrive. And Major Bob makes a big revelation. He says that he only obeys Ivana out of fear, and that he actually opposes her. He was able to get Abigail’s locket back from the Smortzle (by playing music) and explains the significance of it.

The locket contains the power of Emily's love and belief, and it can work only if Abigail believes in herself as well. All this time while Major Bob is talking, Abigail continues to sit lifeless on the shelf.

Then major Bob gives a profound speech about identity. He talks about how Ivana has trapped them by forcing them to believe in lesser versions of themselves. He tells them how Ivana tried to do the same thing to him but that he resisted her by listening to his own inner spark.

Then he says “Yes Abigail, you are indeed a doll, but you're also brave, loving, creative, and very important to Emily.” And although Reggie may be a frog he is still Reggie. And Gloria is a lot more than just some discarded cloth. The same for Scruffy. Their true selves are not in what Ivana would have them believe, but are found in their inner sparks.

Getting strength from the locket, Abigail restores herself and her friends. They then set off to stop Ivana.

But then, along the way, the Inzo's attack again. And they stir up an old memory in Abigail. She recalls the time when Emily created the Inzos during her nightmares, before she learned how to control them. But just as she realizes how Emily once controlled Inzos, one of them steals the locket from her neck and flies away. This is how the chapter ends.

Chapter 12: Lost Toys Unite!

Summary

This is a low point for Abigail. She's lost the locket again and continues to wrestle with the revelation that she is not Emily’s sister. And this time she gets emotional. But Gloria helps her recover by reminding her that Sparkle Valley belongs to her as much as it does to Emily. She realizes that she has a role to play in shaping this world.

And then Abigail gets an idea of how she can get back her locket, but doesn’t reveal it immediately. She leads the entire group, which includes Gloria, Reggie, Scruffy, as well as Major Bob and the Bobbleheads back to the Smortzle’s bus. And then she releases all the blue butterflies.

The butterflies, revealed to be stolen inner sparks of all the forgotten toys fly toward Conundrum Cave with the gang scrambling behind them.

They follow the butterflies to the cave and then as they arrive, the sparks reunite with their owners, the lost toys, and one by one, they started appearing from the cave, landing in Reggie’s net. They're full of life and purpose, bouncing with joy after finally being set free.

The toys all gather together in a massive crowd and there's all kinds of them. Old ones, newer ones, stuffed animals, toy soldiers, even cars, and at the end, the Emily’s big wind up gorilla, Tom-Tom Timmy bounces out of the cave, no longer a monster.

Abigail welcomes them all to Sparkle Valley and warns them about Ivana. At first the toys are uncertain, but then with Reggie and Gloria and Major Bob's encouragement, they fall in the line as a single force and start marching toward the Pink Palace.

But the chapter ends with Abigail doubting herself and her chances, because Ivana still has the magic cane and the Inzos. And for all she knows, she probably has the locket now as well. And all she has is this group of lost toys that Sparkle Valley has forgotten.

Chapter 13: An Old Friend

Summary

In this chapter, our old friend Doris Tortoise reappears in a dream-like way separate from the normal flow of events here. (A special butterfly tips Abigail off.)

Abigail tells Doris about all her fears that Ivana was right that Emily is causing the tremors, and that Sparkle Valley is doomed and nothing could stop its destruction and so forth and so on. But Doris, as usual, has something important to say.

She tells her something important: Sparkle Valley appears to have existed a long time before Emily and will continue to exist a long time after her as well. It's not just all about Emily. All kinds of children are connected to the valley. They discover it, influence it, and sometimes lose touch with it when they grow older. Her point is that imagination isn't merely some kind of private fantasy but rather more like a doorway or portal into something that can be much bigger.

Then Abigail gets to the point and asks about Ivana. This is a pivotal moment that leads to a whole change in perspective. Doris tells Abigail to think about Ivana in more than just the simple categories of good and evil. She knows she's done some bad things, but why she was drawn to the Beast in the first place? Abigail thinks about Ivana being abandoned in the garden and her heartbreak. It’s then that Abigail finally understands that the root cause of jealousy is only at the surface of something that goes much deeper. Ivana feels unloved.

And that realization changes everything. Abigail knows that rather than defeating Ivana, she must help her.

And then, at the very end of the chapter Doris returns the word “impossible” to Abigail. The vision then ends and Abigail returns to the marching army of lost toys. She has a new plan.

Chapter 14: The Locket

Summary

We're starting to get toward the climactic scene here, so let's get into it.

The army of lost toys is marching toward Wildflower Field and when they get there, they see something that truly shocks them. The tremors have opened up a huge canyon that separates them from the Pink Palace. There's a narrow rope bridge that stretches across the canyon. Ominous green mist rises from below.

On the far side of the bridge there's Ivana and she's waiting with the magic cane, and Abigail’s stolen locket. There are hundreds of Inzos circling above her and the Smortzle is standing beside her. It is a formidable force.

Thinking back about the lessons from both Emily and Doris, Abigail refuses to fear the Inzos. She faces her fears. And as one flies toward her she begins singing Doris's song and leaps on its back. And instead of attacking her, the Inzo flies off, taking her high into the sky.

Meanwhile, the Bobblehead Brigade plays music to calm the other Inzos, once again, proving that they're not inherently evil.

As the ground is shaking from another tremor, Ivana is preparing to throw the locket in the abyss to feed the Beast below, but Abigail dives after it on the back of the Inzo. Deeper into the canyon she races until she catches a glimpse of the vast fog-like presence beneath Sparkle Valley. She hears it hissing like a thousand snakes. And at the last possible moment, she grabs the locket and races back up out of the canyon into daylight. The Smortzle flees. Ivana stands alone by the abyss with her head bowed.

But then in the final confrontation, rather than defeating Ivana, Abigail offers her the locket.

Then she apologizes to her for what happened in the Magic Garden, and acknowledges her pain of being abandoned and replaced. She tells Ivana that Sparkle Valley belongs to everyone and she wants to share the love symbolized by the locket.

At first Ivana is skeptical, but finally she accepts the gift of the locket. And that moment the power of the locket is released, the tremors stop. The canyon closes. Sparkle Valley heals. Ivana's broken leg is gone. And her bitterness seemingly disappears. She becomes a princess, and all the toys celebrate. Peace comes back to the valley.

If you want to dig deeper into Abigail's hug you can do that HERE

Epilogue: A Familiar Voice

Summary

We're back in the Magic Garden and Abigail wakes up lying on a rock in the stream with the cane next to her. Emily discovers her and is so happy to see her.

"I've been looking all over for you!"

Time has gone by, Emily looks different. She's got on lip gloss and she's texting with her friends, but clearly she still loves Abigail.

She carries her home and Grandma Doris is waiting on the porch where she's sitting next to a vase of forget-me-nots. She immediately notices that Abigail no longer has her locket and says she knows exactly what happened.

Emily puts away her phone and asks Grandma Doris to tell a story, and guess what, it's a story that recounts Abigail's journey to Sparkle Valley. Doris seems to know far more about Sparkle Valley than she has ever explained.

Emily listens, and Abigail thinks about all her friends in Sparkle Valley—Gloria, Reggie, Major Bob, and even Ivana. And she realizes that she'll see them all again someday. But for that moment, she's exactly where she belongs. She's home.

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