Decemberist Colin Meloy and his wife, illustrator Carson Ellis, are releasing a middle-reader children's book at the end of the summer. The pair explain in their author's note that Wildwood, which is set in Portland, was inspired by Forest Park: "What if it were its own secret country, populated by a diverse and strange people?"

Prue McKeel's life is ordinary. At least until her brother is abducted by a murder of crows and taken to the Impassable Wilderness, a dense, tangled forest on the edge of Portland. No one's ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater, as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Fun Hipster Fact! As Ezra pointed out, that character name sounds like a tribute to Seann McKeel, the girlfriend (actually Ezra said "Baby Mama") of Decemberist Chris Funk. (I just realized that hipster facts are never really that much fun.) The book is available for pre-order on the website, where you can also download the first four chapters. Ellis and Meloy are scheduled to read at the Bagdad on August 30, the book's official release date.