Copper Beech is a ten-year-old girl who is sent by her aunt to rejoin her family in the Marble Mountains, a family she has never met. When she gets there she learns that her father and mother both disappeared six years ago. She befriends a local boy, Questrid, an orphan taken in by Copper's uncle and aunt. The Wood people her father came from are enemies with her mother's Rock family and Copper must try to heal the feud between them.
 
A lightweight and charming piece, focusing on the thoughts of a girl who discovers that her parents came from feuding families. The story achieves a gently magical feel based on the characters' affinity with wood or metal, and draws the reader along with no real surprises. Really, this simple tale is about Copper's family and the tragic circumstances of the feud that left her without her parents. Copper's uncle and aunt take her in until she finds her own parents and reconciles the two families. Tim Golden is a computer programmer living in London. He is also the editor of goodtoread.