H.E.A.R

Gr 9 Up—After getting into trouble with the law a few weeks before her high school graduation, Kassandra (Kass) Black is sent to work with her great uncle, Brian Black, for the summer. Professor Black runs the Henley Engineering Anomolies Research (H.E.A.R.) lab on the campus of Henley University. Kass quickly discovers that she and her peers on campus all have extrasensory perception (ESP), but it is not until a shared vision of a H.E.A.R. student's murder that she realizes the danger of her gift and her powerlessness. Narrator Jane Cramer does an excellent job of capturing Kass's essence—her self-righteous anger, frustrations with her uncle, and incredulity at the whole concept of ESP. Cramer's narration makes it easy for listeners to distinguish among characters—the slight valley-girl accent for Mara; a deeper, sarcastic tone for Punkedge; and a tinge of a British accent for Erika—and carries the story even when it is stymied.