Synopsis
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.
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.
KLIATT
It's been some time (1999) since Hidden Talents introduced Lubar's characters—the friends Martin, Trash, Cheater, Torchie, Flinch and Lucky—all of whom have super powers that mostly have gotten them into trouble. The adventure in True Talents begins with Trash, who has the power to move objects with his mind, escaping from a laboratory where he has been held in a zombie-like state. We don't know until the story progresses who was experimenting with his mind and for what purpose. It's a sinister purpose, of course. Trash and his friends slowly gather together and use their combined talents to free Trash from this evil man who is trying to harness Trash's power. The reader gets a good idea of how privacy can be destroyed, with surveillance of phone calls, in streets with camera, over the computer—it's almost impossible to hide from authorities who have access to such tools. There are brutal encounters, enough to satisfy the most bloodthirsty middle-school male reader, and the chases, the captures, the escapes, the confrontations are nonstop. The first book was an ALA Best Book for YAs, and I'm sure this one will be chosen as well. The short chapters, the challenging concepts, the fine, suspenseful writing will keep readers on edge.