Life in the village of Pigbone is boring until an aspiring magician and his talking toad come to town and ask Edward to help them slay the Dragon of Doom.
When Edward accompanies Moongobble into the Forest of Night to prove he is a magician of merit by obtaining the tears of a werewolf, he does not know what big surprises are in store for them.
After losing his hand in an accident in his father's butcher shop in 1946, sixth-grader Norman uses hard work and humor to learn to live with his disability and to succeed at baseball, art, and other activities.