Hidden Talents (novel)

Hidden Talents, published in 1999, is a novel by author David Lubar. It's sequel is the 2007 novel, True Talents

Plot

Martin Anderson cannot stay out of trouble. He seems to have a natural talent for getting on everyone's bad side. This talent lands him in Edgeview, a last-chance alternative school that. His roommate Torchie keeps setting things on fire, his friends are thieves and cheats, and his mouth quickly gets him in trouble with the teachers. However, as the school year progresses Martin begins to suspect that his friends aren't troubled so much as misunderstood. After researching ESP he learns his friends have special powers. He just needs to convince them of it. They must work together to stop Bloodbath's plan to sabotage Edgeview's state inspection-a task that will require Martin's own hidden talent.

Characters

;Martin Anderson:The narrator and protagonist. Martin's smart mouth and instinctive knowledge of how to make people upset has made him few friends and landed him in plenty of trouble, particularly with his dad. Edgeview is his last hope, and he struggles to make the best of it.

;Philip "Torchie" Grieg: Martin's roommate. Torchie was sent to Edgeview for supposed pyromania, but maintains his innocence. Martin discovers he actually has pyrokinesis.

;Dennis "Cheater" Woo:Incredibly intelligent, Cheater has an abundance of obscure facts stored away. Despite this he was sent to Edgeview for cheating on all his tests, word-for-word. This is because Cheater is telepathic; during tests he becomes distracted by the thoughts of the other students. He has a habit of taking sarcastic jokes literally.

;Willis "Flinch" Dobbs:Flinch was sent to Edgeview for being disruptive in class. He has precognition, and is able to see into the near-future. As such he answers questions before they've been asked, and reacts to actions before they've been taken. This also makes him a good comedian.

;Dominic "Lucky" Calibrizi:Lucky received his nickname due to his ability to find objects, which caused his teachers to believe he was a thief. In reality he merely found lost objects that were "calling out" to him. His ability is never specifically stated, though it's implied to be clairvoyance.

;Eddie "Trash" Thalmeyer:Trash was considered troubled even by Edgeview standards, and sat at a table alone at lunch before meeting Martin. He was sent to Edgeview for vandalizing and throwing objects. Upon close observation Martin discovered Trash was actually telekinetic.

;Bloodbath:The sadistic school bully, everyone does their best to steer clear of him. After learning about the state inspection Bloodbath conspires with his gang to sabotage it in order to have Edgeview closed.