Heap House: Book One (The Iremonger Trilogy)

Clod Iremonger, who lives with his family at Heap House surrounded by the garbage and discards of London, has the gift--or curse--of hearing the whispers of objects in the rubbish heaps surrounding his house. Through the whispers Clod learns of a great danger coming to Heap House, and he teams up with a servant named Lucy Pennant to head off the danger before it arrives.