When he is sent away to stay with an old family friend, Cressida Bell, Milo becomes obsessed with a tale that will change his life: the story of Mighty Fizz Chilla.

    This summer he is being sent to Dyer's farm, and he is sure that he won't like it there.

    The potatoes are black and rotten, and the people have nothing to eat. Eily, Michael and Peggy are alone in their cottage. Their parents went out in search of work and food, but never returned. Now the children must fend for themselves. Desperate to avoid being sent to the workhouse, they set out on a journey to find their great-aunts. On their journey, they encounter the devastation caused by famine people scrabbling for food, abandoned children, soup kitchens, beggars, disease, wild dogs, death. Led by twelve-year-old Eily, the children use all their strength and ingenuity to survive and find their way to Castletaggart.