Todd is the youngest resident in Prentisstown, the farthest outpost of colonies on a recently-settled planet.  There are no females in Prentisstown -- they died years ago from a virus -- and the men can hear each other's thoughts.  They think a virus caused that too.  The noise is deafening, and secrets are impossible to keep.  As Todd approaches his 13th birthday, he begins to discover a few truths about his life and his world, as well as something he's never seen before:  a girl.  (She's so quiet!)  The first book in a trilogy (all are available now), The Knife of Never Letting Go presents us with a creepy, disturbing and violent world where nothing is as it seems.  This is some wonderful science fiction for the advanced reader.