Torberta Turchin, or Torby for short, is a 14-year-old girl who has spoken to the dead ever since she can remember. After her parents' death in a tragic car accident when she was very young, her relatives sent her to St. Christopher's boarding school for the mentally ill, where she lives a relatively normal and happy life. Short of some demanding and needy ghosts, Torby has never been much bothered by the voices, especially because her best friend, a musician named Charlie who died in the 1930s, is among them.

When she becomes the target of strange events at the school though, she needs Charlie's help, and the help of a new boy who not only can hear Charlie... he can see him. Together they must figure out who is behind the attacks, before it's too late, for Torby and for her classmates.

Will she survive to another year? ...or will she join Charlie on the plane of the dead?