After the tragic death of his father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous. Soon the voices follow him outside the house, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, he meets his very own Book--a talking thing--who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.
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