When Lightning Strikes (1-800-Where-R-You #1)

Reader reviewed by ToRi

This book was really good.

It's about a girl who gets hit by lightning and now has a kind of super power but it's not like it seems. It's not really a little kids book because the super powers and stuff it's more about Jess.

Jess can find missing children by just seeing their picture and dreaming about them. She has to stay away from the people who want to use her as if she were an experiment but she also really wants to help these kids.

After some cases where the children didn't want to be found it kind of put her off a bit but she still continued.

You have to read this book it's really good and i reccommend it to everyone 12 years and up!!

Reader reviewed by edith

okay, first of all, i would like to say that this book, no scratch that, this series, is AWSOME! You have got to read it. okay, so, jessicas friend, Ruth, is obsessed with losing weight. so, she makes them both walk during a lightning storm. but, Jessica gets hit by the lightning. and you know how when lightning hits you, it has to find a way out of you? and you can usually find the escape hole thingy? well, after talking to her brother, she realized that the lightning never left her body. and the next day, she knew where two missing kids were at. the lightning had given her the gift where, if she saw a missing kids picture, she would be able to know where they were at the next morning. so, she meets this guy named Rob in detention i think. he rides this motorcycle, and is super cute! problem is, he's not a very good boy (obviously! he was in detention!) and, he's from the wrong side of town. he asks her for a dat, and she says, fine. but first, she has to help him find a missing kid. he agrees, and it turns into a big adventure full of fighting and laughter. what happens next? read the book and find out!

Reader reviewed by Gracie

Jess Mastriani is not your typical teenage girl. Instead of joining Cheer or an extracurricular club, she spends months in detention for getting into fist fights with people twice her size. But a walk home from school, into a huge lightning and thunderstorm, will change her life and give her extraordinary abilities which will make her one of the most sought after person, by many people including the FBI.

The first book in the 1800 where r you series, I thought When Lightning Strikes was a great book and I recommend it for all YA book lovers.

Reader reviewed by christie

this is the first book in the series by meg cabot. i liked how it began and i love the character jess.i think shes really cool because shes all tough and she doesnt give a hooey aout what anybody thinks except what the oeople she cares about thinks.shes got a rally cool older brother named doug whos the quiet comic book obsessed shy guy whos really cool and he really cares about jess.then when jess goes to detention she sees rob wilkins and hthen as time passes shes slowly fallong for the bad boy.jess also rides a motorcycle or would like to ride one.my favortie part is when jess is in the schhol cafeteria and then the guy behind her says something and she punches the guy in the face breaking his nose.and she ends up in the gudiance counselers office who she calls by his first name since shes been there so many times...but then she gets striken by lightning and gets powers by when she sleeps she sees where all the missing kids in the world are..

Reader reviewed by Ruthie

This book was freaking awesome! Jess is a girl anyone can relate to. She's spunky, couragous, and gets detention. (Hey, not all traits can be good!) The plot line is interesting and the ending stores certain excitement and anticipation for the next novel in the series. In fact, I'm rereading the serious right now. It's my first and favorite of all the Meg Cabot books! In addition, the 1-800-where-r-u? series are coming out with a new cover and two books per sold copy. It's going under the new name Vanished.

Reader reviewed by Vicky B

I am a huge fan of Cabot's, having read every single one of her books, but the 1-800 series was a hard one to get my hands on! However, when I read this book (and the rest of them), I was blown away, once again, by Meg's incredible gift that make me fall in love with her characters, blow me away with her awesome plot lines, and make me anticipate what she's going to come out with next! This series is one of my favorites, mostly because of her awesome, independent female lead, Jess Mastriani, and her bad-boy companion, Rob. They are a duo not to be messed with, and I will love them forever! If you're a fan of Meg's and haven't picked up this series, get on it!

ALSO ON MY GOODREADS
I'd been planning to read this book for a while, but just now got around to it. I am so glad that I did. I read the first two books in half a day.

THE SUMMARY

This series is about Jessica "Jess" Mastriani, a 16 year old girl who, other than the facts that she tends to get into fights and only has one friend, is basically a normal teen girl. Until she and her best friend, Ruth, get caught in a thunderstorm and hide under metal bleachers. And she gets struck by lightning. They walk home, thinking everything's fine, but when she wakes up the next day, she knows where some missing kids are. Thus starts her journey.

After detention, she goes with Rob Wilkins (senior hottie) to where the first missing kid, Sean, was supposed to be. He's there, all right. But he doesn't want to be found. Jess calls the police after they return home and they find him.

Jess keeps in touch with the missing children hotline- 1-800-where-r-u, and gives them locations daily. One day, the FBI catches her making the phone calls and offer her a "job" with them. Someone tells the media about her, and her house is surrounded with reporters. When her brother Douglas goes berserk about it, she decides that maybe the best thing to do is to go with the FBI.

When she finds out that the first boy she reported to the police actually had a reason to not want to be found, she goes to look for him and fix it. He had runaway from his abusive father that he'd been returned to, and she found him at the bus station. She buys him pizza and they talk about what to do, when the FBI shows up. They run, and eventually are both caught. They end up locked in the FBI base.

Jess calls Rob asking him to break them out. He does so, and causes a great amount of commotion. They go back to his house and stay the night.

Jess then decides to give Sean and his mother the $10,000 that she received for finding a kid to start over, and get away from the abusive dad.

She tells the reporter that she has lost her psychic ability, when she hasn't, to get the media off her butt.
The book ends with a police note that she should be watched.

THE REVIEW

Wow, this book was great. Like, 4 stars out of 5 great! I didn't really like that it was written as the MC writing a police report, but I completely forgot about it while reading. I like the idea that being struck by lightning can give you superpowers, and this book really did a great job with that. I was hooked the whole way through, and really understood what Jess was feeling when she did certain things.
The characters were likable, and completely relate-able.
This book was well written and the ideas flowed smoothly. I am definitely going to read the rest of the series.

^^OMG THAT WAS A SHORT REVIEW *DIES*
I might fix it later.

Reader reviewed by Amanda

When Lightning Strikes is the classic story of girl has new found fame, fawned over by the press, and makes mistakes being famous. Jessica Mastriani, walking home from 7 week detention with her best friend Ruth Abramowitz, meets a tornado/thunderstorm. You must understand they live in rural Indiana, so they are on a middle of nowhere road. The wind picks up and they run under the school stadium bleachers. Lightning strikes Jess and because there isnt an exit wound (as in entrance/exit wound where the lightning comes and goes), she is given a talent. When Jessica sees pictures of people like missing children or wanted criminals, then falls asleep for the night, in the morning she knows exactly where they are. Jessica calls 1-800-WHERE-R-U to tell the operators where the missing children are. Soon, Jess has saved many kids and the press gets whiff of it. Jess must deal with the pressures of fame within her own family, mind, and spirit.


I recommend When Lightning Strikes for girls and boys ages 12 and up. What I enjoyed the most about the book are the scariness and hooks. I dont really like scary books, but this one madkes you interested with the sticky situation. 4 stars!

Reader reviewed by Kris

This book starts out with Jessica Mastriani agreeing to walk home with her friend. When hit by lightning, Jess begins to find out where missing children are. She tries to help by calling in and revealing their locations, but after a few calls she gets the government coming after her, trying to use her to their advantage.

Overall, I really loved When Lightning Strikes by Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll. For one, I admit I could definitely fall for Rob. Part of me is thinking, "Jess, give it up, he's mine," yet at the same time I really wish there was a little more romance in this book. I like Jess' character: she's tough, smart, blunt, and really says what is on her mind. She doesn't let herself be pushed over or told what to do. I enjoyed how Meg Cabot had a generally realistic plot and setting to the book, with some sci fi mixed in. There were plenty of opportunities to laugh or grin or glance away. I was hooked from page one until the very end (which, may I add, was very suspenseful). I can't wait to read Code Name Cassandra, since I have a feeling this will be one of those series you can read again and again.

Reader reviewed by Reagan

A teenaged girl, Jessica, gets struck by lightning while walking home from school, after having a dream about the whereabouts of a child she had seen on the back of a milk carton, Jessica finds herself embroiled in an adventure where her sense of right and wrong are put into question. I liked the whole psychic element to the book, the fact that she could find people just by going to sleep was really interesting, and the storyline kept me guessing. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants something that doesnt center around teen angst. :)