Art is magic. Cassie has a whole new lease on life after being accepted into the prestigious Governor’s School for the Arts at Walnut Grove on full scholarship. At 16 years old, Cassie is just a bit older than her first year peers, and so finds herself stuck between newer students from prestigious families and the older students at the school. Striking up initial friendships with a small group of outcasts like herself, Cassie soon discovers that there is much more going on at the school and much more behind her scholarship than she had at first imagined. Discovering that her vivid imagination is in fact a portal to a whole new world, Cassie begins to piece together years of clues she has captured in her sketchbook while navigating the complex relationships that have long been weaving webs around her. Cassie and the Spectral Shade investigates the theme of Acceptance and Belonging.