Open Minds

by Susan Kaye Quinn

Kira Moore lives in a world of eerie silence.

It's the twenty-second century, and everyone can read minds, except for Kira. Her inability to share thoughts with her classmates leaves her hopelessly at the bottom of the social ladder, and she even has to wear a special hearing aid so her teachers can whisper their lectures. Things most young teenage girls look forward to, like college and boyfriends, are completely out of the question for a zero like Kira.

The one bright spot in Kira's life is her friendship with Raf. He's the only person who seems to care about her in spite of her freakish inability to communicate. But everything changes when Kira accidentally knocks Raf out--with her mind.

Terrified, Kira doesn't know what to do until Simon, a good-looking senior with a slightly dangerous reputation, reveals that he and Kira are both mindjackers, rare people who can control thoughts. He teaches her how to use her ability to fool everyone into thinking she's a normal mind-reader, and warns her that no one can ever find out what she really is. Tormented by the lies, Kira pushes her family and Raf away, spending time with Simon instead. After all, Simon is the only person who really understands her.

But Simon is about to pull Kira into a sinister clan of mindjackers who are being hunted by ruthless government agents. In this treacherous underworld, Kira discovers that her mindjacking abilities go way beyond what anyone has seen before, which puts her and everyone she loves, including Raf, in unspeakable danger.

I've seen stories about mind-reading before, but never one so thoroughly consistent and chillingly believable. Kira Moore rocks. Her quest to find her place in the world and to save the people she loves had me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book for readers age twelve and up.