A year after the death of his beloved musician father, thirteen-year-old Benny begins to hear voices. These are the voices of things in his house - toys and a shower head, clothes and Chinese chopsticks, fried ribs and wilted lettuce leaves. Although Benny does not understand what they are talking about, he can feel their emotional tone. Some sound nice, but others may express dissatisfaction or even pain.

When his mother Annabelle has a hoarding problem, the voices get louder. At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon voices begin to haunt him outside the house, on the street and at school, forcing him to finally seek refuge in the silence of a large public library where not only people but things try to keep quiet. There, Benny discovers a strange new world. He falls in love with a charming street artist who carries a ferret, meets a homeless philosopher-poet who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice among the many.

And in the end he finds a talking Book that talks about life and teaches Benny to listen to what really matters.