Hidden Talents Sequel by David Lubar
	List Price:   $5.99 Unit Price:   $4.79 You Save:   $1.20 (20%) ISBN-10:   076534856X ISBN-13:   9780765348562 Publisher:   Tom Doherty Associates; Starscape Category:   Activity Books Pages:   320 Format:   Paperback; Mass Market paperback
Awards
2006  Oklahoma Book Award  Nominee/Honoree
Subjects
CHILDREN'S FICTION
Description/Notes
Chapter One: nbsp; TRYING HARD TO FOCUS nbsp; The gorilla who clung to the ceiling was wearing a Princeton t-shirt. It must have been an XXXXL. Exxxxelll. Exxxxelllent. That was funny. I laughed. He didn’t seem to mind. He just kept playing with his cigarette lighter, sparking tiny fireworks through the air. His glasses had thick, black frames. They made him look smart. Laughing made my head spin, so I closed my eyes. nbsp; He was gone when I woke up. The walls were still rippling. They always rippled. Sometimes, they hummed movie music. They’d been painted by Vincent Van Gogh. A fuzzy man wearing a vanilla coat came in through the door and gave me a sandwich. Grilled cheese. Gorrrilllad cheese. The dark and light-brown patterns looked like George Washington. The father of our country winked at me. George Winkington. Everyone knows he washed down the cherry cheese. nbsp; The cheese was sort of tangy. nbsp; Tangy? nbsp; That’s a taste. I rubbed my tongue across my front teeth and tried to remember the last time I’d tasted something. I knew I’d had other meals. I could remember the clack of a plastic knife and fork against a tray. But I couldn’t remember any tastes or smells. It was all cardboard. I stared at my right hand. My fingers grew longer. I stared harder. They snapped back. But the crumbs on my fingertips kept singing. It was a nice song about fractions. nbsp; I finished my sandwich and took another nap. nbsp; The walls didn’t ripple at all when I woke. Picasso had snuck in and painted over Van Gogh’s work. Vincent would be furious about that. Picasso better keep an eye on his ears. I sat up to look around. My body got there first, so I waited for my head to catch up. There was nothing much to see in the room. A wooden chair. Walls made of cinder blocks. An open door to a bathroom. A small table. No gorilla. Too bad. He was funny. nbsp; I didn’t have any idea where I was. Or why. My brain started to spin, so I flopped back down. My pillow smelled like sweat. nbsp; I heard footsteps, followed by the swoosh of a bolt sliding free. I wasn’t in any shape to deal with people. As the door opened, I shut my eyes and slumped deeper into the mattress. nbsp; A hand touched my shoulder, and then shook it. nbsp; “Come on, Eddie. It’s time to play our game.” nbsp; Game? What was he talking about? I tried to think. It was like jogging under water. Or under syrup. Eddie. That was me. Eddie Thalmayer. I knew who I was. But I had no idea who this guy was or why he wanted to play a game. nbsp; I wasn’t going to do anything for him until I figured out what was happening. He shook my shoulder again. “Eddie . . . wake up. We have to move the marbles.” nbsp; Vague images drifted through my mind. Marbles rolling across a table or floating above it. And, sometimes, wires stuck to my head. It wasn’t a fun game. nbsp; The fingers tightened for a moment. My mind thought my shoulder should hurt, but my shoulder didn’t seem to agree. The guy let go, and I heard him walk toward the door. “Those idiots must have overmedicated him again.” nbsp; Overmedicated? Maybe I’d gotten sick or been in some kind of accident. But this didn’t smell or feel like a hospital room. After the guy left, I opened my eyes and studied the wall next to the bed. A half-dozen large, black ants, as big as robins, swarmed over it. They were transparent. Except for their hula s It’s been over a year since fourteen-year-old Eddie “Trash” Thalmeyer and his friends from Edgeview Alternative School found out about their special hidden talents. Trash can move things with his mind, Torchie is a fire-starter, Cheater reads minds, Lucky finds lost objects, Flinch can predict the future, and Martin can see into people’s souls. Now back home with their families, all the boys want to do is get back to their normal lives, start attending high school, and keep in touch with their friends from Edgeview. nbsp; When Trash tests his power in a bank and accidentally steals a fistful of cash, he is kidnapped by the ruthless leader of a shadowy company whose purpose is to gather information about psychic phenomena—and who is willing to do anything to get it…. Torchie, Cheater, Lucky, Flinch, and Martin join forces to rescue their friend using their hidden talents, and discover their true talents in the process. Praise for True Talents: nbsp; A Book Sense Spring Children’s Pick 2007 nbsp; “It’s a complete page-turner. Lubar manages to be funny and real, even while telling a story that is fantastical to the core.”—Orson Scott Card, bestselling author of Ender’s Game nbsp; “The fine, suspenseful writing will keep readers on edge.”—Starred review, KLIATTnbsp; “The author’s writing is a fluid and teen-smart as ever…The characters have both depth and sparkle, and the author deftly juggles the ensemble of five funny, thoughtful, distinct boys.”—School Library Journal “Lubar’s trademark blend of humor and suspense, complete with explosions, supernatural powers, and just enough gore, will be a hit. The book may be an entertaining sequel, but it also stands nicely on its own.—Booklist “…a gripping page-turner, with a flawlessly structured plot and compelling, struggling characters who never let each other down.”—VOYA “With its tumbling action sequences, interesting moral dilemmas, and clever tie-ins to technology and corporate wrongdoing, this book is a winner.”—Philadelphia Inquirer “The characters are pleasantly quirky…admirers of Holes will enjoy the light humor, the touch of melodrama, and the male camaraderie here, and teachers and librarians using the short chapters as read-alouds will find students eager for the next installment.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books