Safe House (3) (1-800-Where-R-You)

Synopsis

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.

Rebecca Rabinowitz - KLIATT

This third entry in the series finds 16-year-old Jessica dragged into solving a mystery in her small town. One cheerleader has been murdered, another brutally attacked. The authorities are at a loss, but Jessica has ESP a very specific kind that allows her to locate missing people. She doesn't like to use it because the ensuing publicity upsets her mentally ill brother; however, despite her insistence that her powers have disappeared, everyone from peers to lurking FBI agents knows that Jess can help. When a third teenage girl disappears, Jess overcomes her reluctance and plunges into action. The book ends with all immediate danger averted but with a pointer towards a future book where Jessica will again be pressured by the FBI to use her psychic powers. Peppered with television references, clothing brands, and an overuse of like and you know, this book tries too hard to be teenage. Characterization is overshadowed by the forced vernacular style and by economically privileged assumptions within the narrative voice. Safe House will be most enjoyable to readers looking specifically for this genre of easy-to-read murder mystery with light romance. (1-800-Where-R-You, #3). KLIATT Codes: JS Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2002, Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse, 262p.,