The Boy Who Spun Gold. Fairendale, #7

A hunger for gold is never satisfied. Homer, one of the lost children of Fairendale, finds himself in the most unusual of circumstances-transformed into a dwarf, utterly alone, in the middle of a strange wood. The wood leads to a walled village, which leads to a storage shed, where the daughter of the village miller, Eleanora, is locked inside with a roomful of straw, a spinning wheel, and an impossible command to turn the straw to gold.
Homer was not born with the gift of magic, but, remarkably, when he spins the straw, it becomes gold. But when Eleanora's father discovers that straw really can turn to gold, he is overcome with greed and locks his daughter in the shed with a larger store of straw and another impossible command: Do it again. Homer, spurred on by a righteous mission, agrees to help Eleanora once more. Righteousness and greed clash in the middle of the city streets-where an even greater, most unexpected danger awaits Homer. The Boy Who Spun Gold is the seventh book in the Fairendale series, an epic fantasy middle grade series that explores both familiar and unfamiliar fairy tales, legends, myths, and folk tales.
The world of Fairendale revolves around villains and heroes-all on a quest for what they believe is right. But one cannot always know, at first glance, who is the villain and who is the hero. Throughout the series, the story of King Willis and his determination to keep the throne of Fairendale is woven into the story of his son, Prince Virgil, heir to the throne and friend to the village children, and the story of fairy tale children fleeing for their lives-children who become what we know as fairy tale villains, for one good reason or another.  But, remember, one cannot always know, at first glance, who is the villain and who is the hero.