Hearing Things : TOON Level Two

ALA Best Graphic Novels for Children Reading List

Sometimes the spookiest thing of all isn’t a haunted house!

In this spine-tingling graphic novel, Tim and his big sister Martha are new to the neighborhood. Tim likes to record sounds on adventures with his cat, Frankie. Martha likes to make scary music. Nothing has been right for her since the move: Her music stinks! What if she never has friends again! Tim goes on a quest: if he can record something bone-chilling, then Martha can finish her song. But even the block’s haunted house is silent. Just when Tim is ready to give up, Frankie helps him find a way, with the help of some new, unexpected friends.

BEN SEARS has lived in Kentucky his whole life. Raised in a house full of rock and roll music, he played drums in punk bands until he realized he would rather spend all his time drawing pictures and making comics. He has three cats: Harper, Kiwi, and Junior, who likes to stand by the door waiting to go out for a walk on a leash. Like Tim, Ben loves going around his neighborhood to record the sounds of nature—the creek by his house, the wind shaking the trees, or the insects buzzing away. Ben used to love loud noises, but now that he is older, he has learned to appreciate quiet. He goes to sleep every night reading the adventures of Charlie Brown in Charles Schulz’s Peanuts.