1-800-Where-R-You Series by Meg Cabot

"Help me find my little girl." Jess Mastriani -- dubbed "Lightning Girl" by the press when, after a huge storm, she develops a psychic ability to find missing children -- has lost her miraculous powers. Or has she? She would like the media and the government to think so. All Jess wants is to be left alone, by everyone except sexy Rob Wilkins -- who still hasn't called, by the way.... But it doesn't look like Jess is going to get her wish -- especially not while she's stuck working at a summer camp for musically gifted kids. Then the father of a missing girl shows up to beg Jess to find his daughter. Jess can't say no, but now the feds are on her trail again, as is one ornery stepdad, who'd like to see Lightning Girl...well, dead.From School Library JournalGr 7-10-In When Lightning Strikes (Pocket Pulse, 2001), an accident endowed Jess with the psychic ability to find missing people. After the Feds, the press, and desperate parents of missing children made her life miserable, the teen decided to pretend that her powers were gone. In this sequel, Jess is trying to go back to a normal life. She gets a summer job at a camp for musically gifted children and tries to wrestle with the woes of unwanted press and unruly campers. One boy, Shane, quickly rises as the camp bully and torments his fellow campers. As if that and a cabinful of young boys aren't enough to keep her busy, she is surprised by a visit from a man who begs her to find his missing daughter. She can't say no to him and her life quickly becomes complicated again as she tries to save the girl, dodge the Feds, seduce her sort-of boyfriend, and manage her job. Carroll (aka Meg Cabot of The Princess Diaries [HarperCollins, 2000]) tells the story in the irreverent and slang-peppered language of today's teenagers. With her detention-clouded past and her ambitionless future, the protagonist is no role model, but she is a character that young people will believe and enjoy. The story moves fast and is full of suspense, action, and teen intrigue. Readers who enjoyed the first book will not be disappointed, and newcomers will not be left far behind.*Heather Dieffenbach, Lexington Public Library, *Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From BooklistGr. 6-10. In this second in the 1-800-Where-R-You series, Jess Mastriani (Lighting Girl) takes a job at a summer camp for gifted musical kids to escape the publicity and danger that have accompanied her powers of telepathy, which were triggered by a lightning strike. Determined never again to use her extraordinary talents to locate missing children, she vows to lead a normal teenage existence, boys and all--despite very obvious FBI surveillance. Carroll, author of The Princess Diaries * (2000), paces the story well, smoothly moving from typical teen and camp conversations and situations to the tense and mysterious stalking of Jess by both police and kidnappers. With more substance than many books in the genre, this will be an easy sell. Frances BradburnCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved*

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