"Eleven-year-old Jane Grandison, tormented by a stutter, is invited to live and study at The Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children, founded in 1890 as a seeming sanctuary for children seeking to cure their speech impediments. However, the Headmistress has found that her students can channel ghostly voices through their handicapped utterances, communicating with the land of the dead, a realm that the Headmistress herself visits at will. Things change for the school when a student disappears, drawing attention from parents and police"--