The author does a masterful job of pulling together so much of what is happening in the world into the interlacing story of a widow and her son, a young woman and older poet confined to a wheel-chair living on the streets, the comfort of the library, an influential Buddhist nun and the power of consumerism and pharmacology. The book does not let us turn away from the complexity of every character: a young widow overwhelmed by her job of navigating through terrible news and inability to let anything go, her grieving, sensitive son who hears objects speak yet is put through so much by a well-meaning psychiatrist who lacks the ability to listen. Throughout the book, the public library offers a refuge for so many of the book's characters, including the son and the community he finds with others dealing with their own anxieties and demons. There is a sense of wisdom threaded throughout the book about the need to open our eyes to truly see the world and others around us. The writing is beautiful, as are the characters in all their flawed complexity.Publisher's description:
After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous. At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where "things happen." He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many. And he meets his very own Book--a talking thing--who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.