"In twelve-year-old Giacomo's Renaissance-inspired world, art is powerful, dangerous, and outlawed. Every artist possesses a Genius, a birdlike creature that is the living embodiment of an artist's creative spirit. Those caught with one face severe punishment, so when Giacomo discovers he has a Genius, he knows he's in big trouble"--

Giacomo, his fellow artists and their teacher flee to an Asian-inspired world of Genius warriors, where a power-hungry leader recruits them to track down the next Sacred Tool.