Safe House [Mass Market Paperback]

Jenny Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002 | Series: 1-800-Where-R-You (Book 3)

"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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up-Jessica Mastriani, 16, has been having psychic visions ever since she was struck by lightning, earning her the nickname Lightning Girl at school. When a cheerleader disappears and is found dead, Jessica reluctantly uses her psychic abilities to catch the culprits. This third addition to a series by the author (aka Meg Cabot) of The Princess Diaries (HarperCollins, 2000) will be popular with teen girls. The author accurately captures the voice of the narrator, a girl just beyond the boundaries of the popular crowd. The blend of romance and suspense adds to the appeal, as does the protagonist's take-charge attitude in solving the crime. With so many series out there, librarians may want to purchase one or two of the volumes to see how they will be received.
Michele Capozzella, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

SLJ Will be popular with teen[s]....[Cabot] accurately captures the voice of the narrator, a girl just beyond the boundaries of the popular crowd. The blend of romance and suspense adds to the appeal, as does the protagonist's take-charge attitude in solving the crime. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743411412
• ISBN-13: 978-0743411417
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,000,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of My Absolute Favorite Series/Books!, August 19, 2003

By 

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Safe House (Mass Market Paperback)

After Jess got back from working as a camp counselor at Lake Wawasee in Code Name Cassandra, Jess had two choices: work the hot plate at her father's restaurant or go to the Michigan dunes with her best friend Ruth Abramowitz. This may seem like a no brainer choice, but Ruth's dad doesn't believe in cable, won't allow a phone at the house except for his cell for emergencies, and her best friend Ruth is busy going out with her boyfriend the whole time. But when Jess found out that her Great-aunt Rose would be coming to watch Jess and her older brother Doug while her parents took her brother to Harvard, playing endless video games with Skip, Ruth's geeky older brother, started to look pretty good. Needless to say, Jess had no idea that Amber Mackey went missing while she was on vacation and it was grossly unfair of everyone to blame her for not being there to find her. Hello, Jess had already told everyone that she had lost her powers, why was everyone blaming her?

Karen Sue Hanky. The lousy snitch had told everyone about how she found a missing kid at camp and now all of the popular kids are blaming Jess for not saving Amber. Jess has no idea who would want to kill a popular cheerleader and leave her body at the bottom of the quarry, but she feels that she is obligated to find out. When another cheerleader goes missing, Heather Montrose, one of the most popular girls in school, Jess knows that she has to do something. But how can she find Heather without revealing that she still has her psychic powers to the Feds? When Jess is able to find out, though, she knows that she has no choice but to go and rescue Heather - no one should have to go through the agonies that Heather is! Jess quickly drags Rob, her would be boyfriend if he would just get a clue, out to an abandoned shack where they find Heather. Jess is counting on Heather to turn her kidnappers over to the police, but Heather is too scared. Jess knows that she is the only one who can track down the people in her own town who are capable of committing these terrible crimes, but is it worth the price she will have to pay?

This is the third book in the "Lightning Girl" or 1-800-WHERE-R-U series and it is just fabulous! Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll has created one of my favorite series with this one and I simply love Jess as a heroine. Jess is funny, smart, tough and not afraid to say or do exactly what she is thinking. She always makes me laugh when I read her stories - whether she is trying to finagle Rob into dating her, get her older brother Doug out of his room or beat up Karen Sue Hankey, she is always entertaining and fun to read about. This is an absolute must read series if you have liked any of Cabot/Carroll's other books. Highly recommended for everyone!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great addition! Go Jenny Carroll!, June 29, 2002

By 

Aleisha (Lake Mary, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Safe House (Mass Market Paperback)

Junior year is starting! And Jess wants to start it off right. No fist fights! No detention! But all her plans change when people start blaming her for the death of a popular cheerleader who was killed while Jess was away that summer. Then another cheerleader, Heather Montrose, turns up missing. Now it's up to Jess to make sure Heather doesn't end up dead too. To make matters worse Karen Sue is sueing Jess for punching her in the nose. Not only that but Douglas is a suspect in the case. Not to mention the death threats Jess keeps recieving. What's a girl to do?

Another great book. Rob was so awesome in this book. I can't wait for Sanctuary, Book 4!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Safe House, June 23, 2002

By 

T. Adams "bizzyreading" (New York, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Safe House (Mass Market Paperback)

In Safe House, sequel to Code Name Cassandra, Jessica Mastriani must once again fend off the FBI. After getting struck by lightning and discovering her new ability to dream the exact location of anyone whose name or picture she sees Jess is forced by the ever present reporters to take up the FBI on its offer to study her power away from home. After escaping from the FBI with the help of her crush, Ron, and fooling the world into thinking that her power has disappeared when she returns from summer vacation it turns out that almost everyone is blaming her for the death of a popular cheerleader days before. Apparently they decided she hadn't lost her power when the cheerleader disappeared and bombarded her house with pleas for help, but her housesitting aunt refused to give them her number. Now the cheerleaders football playing boyfriend is taking her out to pizza to pump her for info on the Feds, her best friends brother is in love with her, her brother is a suspect in the cheerleaders death, her arch enemy is sueing her for breaking her nose, and another girl has turned up missing. How is Jess, who is not exactly a subtle person, supposed to deal with this and still manage to convince the world and her own surveillance team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that she is unable to find people?

I love all of Jenny Carroll's books. This one is no exception.