Matty is confused because he has nothing to trade. Matty insists on attending and Seer eventually agrees but asks Matty to promise not to trade anything. Matty desires to attend Trade Mart, but Seer disapproves. Matty pleads with Seer for a Gaming Machine, but Seer does not approve of Trade Mart, which is where Ramon's family bartered for the machine. Matty's friend Ramon brags about his family's new Gaming Machine his family has acquired. Matty, who delivers messages for the community because of his easy passage through Forest, hopes to be named Messenger in the near future. However, Forest has had a mysterious kinship with Matty, always allowing Matty to pass through unscathed and even providing food by way of fish and berries. Gatherer was entangled and killed by Forest, which is a dangerous place for most citizens. On the return trip home, Matty hears mournful singing, or keening. For reasons unknown, Matty is confused and fearful of the small animal. In a mysterious evening walk to the Forest, Matty seeks out a small frog. Matty assists Seer with cooking and caring for the house. Now a boy on the verge of adulthood, Matty lives with a blind man called Seer. After arriving at Village, the community cared for Matty.

Matty was once a young troublemaker from a broken home and once referred to himself as Fiercest of the Fierce. When Matty's caregiver, Seer, enlists Matty's help to travel through the Forest and return with Seer's daughter before the border closure, Matty must call upon all of his courage to journey through increasingly dangerous Forest. At the same time, the Forest that once welcomed Matty now darkens and thickens to prevent passage. A growing group of citizens demands to close its borders. Young Matty is struggling to understand his strange and mysterious gift of healing powers just as the altruistic society he lives in begins to experience disharmony.

The messenger lois lowry