Eleven-year-old Samantha Bailey (SAM) and her Mother relocate to the quirky, tropical, Australian town of Kubinda after a family breakdown in New York.  Towering jungle rainforests replace glass and steel skyscrapers.

 Sam storms off after an argument with her mother and finds an ancient Egyptian Scarab in the jungle, or, to be more accurate, it finds her.  Holding the Scarab allows Sam to see the surrounding spirit world. She meets AKANARTIN, a 2013-year-old ghost boy, who is the remnant of the spirit family left behind by the Ancients 2000 years ago to guard the Hidden City, a portal to the underworld, located near Kubinda.  The guardianship requires a spirit and human guardian, and Sam, like it or not is the new human guardian.

 BILL MADDISON, the town villain, is the Father of LIZ, a classmate and enemy of Sam's.  Bill discovers the Hidden City and begins stripping the artefacts to sell on the black market, weakening the City’s power to block the evil spirits from escaping the underworld.

 Sam and her friends must work against the clock to save not only Kubindah, but the whole world from annihilation.