Almost thirteen, Morgan plans to spend her summer training for an all-star track meet, playing rep softball and hanging out with her cool new friend jade. Instead, she is stuck at her grandma's farm for the summer. She and her little cousin Dulcy are drawn to the mystical place they call Seraphina's Circle , under the protective branches of an ancient fir tree. With cornhusk dolls they begin to mingle past with present in re-enactments of events from previous generations. As they fall under the spell of the circle, the cousins become absorbed in the romantic story of Seraphina, their great-aunt who died tragically at a young age. When her older cousin Clare begins to rebel against her own parents' rules, Morgan begins to be afraid that history will repeat itself tragically in their own lives. In Seraphina's Circle , Shipley evokes with her usual skill and sensitivity the complexities of a young teen dealing with unusual challenges.