One year after the death of his beloved musician father, thirteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house - a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament - and while Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone. When his mother 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, driving him to seek refuge in a public library, where objects are well-behaved and know how to speak in whispers. There he discovers a strange new world. He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet who encourages him to ask important questions and finds his own voice amongst the many. Ans 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.

(From the back cover)