Jeremy is a bright, 14-year-old who is also a self-taught magician -- a warlock. His only guide to his talent is an old diary detailing someone else's experiments with a similar talent ... and lamenting the fact that there are no words to describe what is being done or how. When circumstances - including a burning figure and the destruction of Jeremy's home - send Jeremy fleeing to Los Angeles to try to contact his father who is overseas, Jeremy finds that he has attracted the attentions of a ghost -- Danny, who was young, black and a drug addict. When Jeremy and Danny reach LA, they're spotted by Jeanne -- who, unlike Jeremy, can actually see Danny. Jeanne -- 16 -- is a witch whose talent is locating things -- anything. But, like Jeremy, Jeanne is also frustrated because she does not know how to describe what she does. Together the three youngsters -- warlock, witch and ghost -- set out to investigate their talents but, in the process, become involved with drug dealers, federal agents ... and the burning man. Finally, despite setbacks, frustration and very real dangers, the three find solutions with Danny discovering how to help the burning specter and Jeremy and Jeanne create an opportunity to learn the words ... or learn to create the language which they each need while avoiding the immediate hazards inherent in being 'different'.