When Lightning Strikes by Meg Cabot

Alright, so I don't really know what this series is called, it was: 1-800-Where R You, then Vanished, and then there was a TV show called 1-800-Missing (don't think this was very close to the book to be honest). Anyway, it is by Meg Cabot and as you know I have been getting rather excited about her new Heather Wells Mystery Size 12 and Ready to Rock which is just out in the US (I know, I am so upset). I have been delving through her backlist and reading everything I can get my hands on. Sadly, Mister Kindle won this time, as I had to fly on RyanAir which as you all know (or not, but I will tell you) means I can only carry one little bag and therefore couldn't carry all of these brilliant books. It was a tough time, but I am glad to be out of it now, thanks!

So onto the first in the Vanished series: When Lightning Strikes. Jess is a normal teenage girl, she protects her friends from bullies, plays the flute in orchestra and likes a boy who is too old for her (18, she's only 16) who drives a motorcycle (yep, he is the dream guy). So, here is Jess, all normal until she gets hit by lightning and when she wakes up the next day she knows exactly where the two kids on the back of the milk carton are. By 'exactly' I do mean addresses and zip codes and all of that. So what is a young girl supposed to do? If you are Jess then you convince the hot guy to drive you over to one of the addresses to make sure that kid really is there and then you call the Missing helpline (you got it: 1-800-WHERE-R-U).

Jess now has a superpower, but she's doing the right thing, finding these kids and returning them to their parents or loved ones - right? Well, sometimes doing the right thing is more complicated than that and Jess has to fight to right some wrongs. Who knew having a superpower would be so difficult!?

Anyway, this is a pretty exciting start to the series, there are FEDs and motorcycle gangs, but what really impressed me was the back story. Jess has an older brother called Douglas, he tried to commit suicide last year and is now living at home, on medication to help quiet the voices he hears in his head. While some of you might be like, 'Hey, that's depressing', I have to say, it is amazing. It brings depth to a novel that could just be a fun, flirty book about a girl who can find missing people and her way cool adventures, but it is so much more than that and definitely worth a read! So as always, I will beg you to visit your local bookstore, hunt around a library or, if you are super desperate like me and have to fly on RyanAir, buy it on Kindle. Just buy it, show the book-creating community some love and remember a book is pretty cheap compared to the cinema and you get to keep it forever and ever and ever!!!

Got the next one lined up and ready to go so watch this space - I will be filling it with awesome Meg Cabot books until I get my hands on her new Heather Wells!