Dream Life
The Plot: Claire Voyante has a gift: psychic abilities that help her solve mysteries. Naturally, it's not something she shares with her fellow students at Henry Hudson High School. Of her family, its her grandmother, Kiki, who knows her secret gift and helps her come to terms with it. Sequel to Dream Girl
The Good: Claire's abilities are not a straightforward roadmap. Rather, they are dreamlike clues to something. Wearing the onyx and ivory cameo necklace that Kiki gave Claire on Claire's fifteenth birthday helps; so, too, does Claire being observant enough to interpret her dreams and apply them to the real world.
Claire is not a rich kid, even if she does have a well-off grandmother who passes down designer duds and a best friend, Becca, who is a rich girl from an old New York family. Claire is secretly dating/not-dating Becca's brother, Andrew. Claire is a bit insecure about this, and when Becca starts hanging out with her prep school friends from similar privileged backgrounds Claire thinks she has lost her friend. It doesn't help that Andrew, in addition to keeping the relationship secret from Becca, wants to cool things down as he concentrates on school to pull up his grades.
It turns out that Becca isn't ditching Claire. Instead, Becca is part of a secret society, one that is dedicated to secret good deeds around New York City. Because all the teenagers are connected and wealthy, this isn't your High School activities of visiting nursing homes. These are big, extravagant, always top-secret projects. Soon Claire finds herself involved in the secret society (despite her more modest background) and (of course!) solving a mystery. And remember... no one knows that she gets help from her dreams. She has to pretend as if she is just figuring things out. What's nice is that the dreams aren't roadmaps. They are rather clues themselves, things that have to be interpreted, to be viewed just the right way. So, instead of a dream giving it all away, both Claire and the reader have to figure out what exactly is meant; what to look for; whether there is a warning or a promise.
Also good: a side of New York City that isn't all glam. Claire bicycles places to meet her friends, has a mix of friends, enjoys spending time with Kiki. She likes Andrew yet doesn't understand the mixed signals he sends her. She tries to balance her different friendships. And she's funny! What else would you expect when the main character is named Claire Voyante? (It's explained in the first book.)
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By: Lizzy Burns,
on 2/25/2010
Blog: A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: reviews, friendship, young adult, romance, mystery, humor, paranormal, random house, delacorte press, lauren mechling, 2010, Add a tag
By: Jill,
on 10/14/2008
Blog: The Well-Read Child (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: delacorte press for young readers, Lauren Mechling, mary rowe review, dream girl, Add a tag
Big thanks to Mary Rowe (The Library Queen) for writing the following review!
Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling
Some mysteries are much like a roller coaster; you get in and hang on while you are taken for a dangerous ride. You are thrown up-side down as you speed along in the dark and are totally terrified before you come to the end of the track. This mystery is not at all like that at all.
Dream Girl is more like a stroll with Robin Leach through the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Along the way pieces of the mystery become known at a leisurely pace. In-between the clues you are entertained by an introduction to lavish living with fascinating and eccentric characters. The mystery is slowly revealed to the heroine and the reader at the same time.
Claire has always thought her dreams were strange, but when her grandmother gives her a cameo necklace her dreams begin to change. As she pays attention to the dreams , they seem to lead only to embarrassment as her sleuthing uncovers nothing. Just as she is about to give up on following the leads in her dreams, Claire's grandmother gives her a few suggestions that help her have more confidence.
The characters in Dream Girl are a lively mix of likeable individuals, dramatic eccentrics and a few unpolished gems. For the most part the characters are fully developed and the relationships ring true.
Kiki, Claire's grandmother is very sophisticated. She lavishes money and clothes on her granddaughter but also seems to honestly enjoy spending time with Claire. Becca Shutterworth's character seems to be revealed gradually almost like a butterfly unfolding its wings for the first time. The reader gets glimpses of Becca that create uncertainty about her personality. When she is finally emerges I felt as if she had become my friend as well as Claire's.
Some characters lacked depth and don't seem to add much to the story line but hinted at having more important roles in possible sequels. Claire's parents (Mom's a writer and dad is a French professor) and their eccentric friends add color to the story but not much else. I wondered if Douglas (college professor friend of Claire's dad) was going to become a stronger character in the plot but all he does if have dinner with Claire and Becca and disappear from the book. In some ways the extra scenes like this added to the mystery because I found myself wondering if this was going to be important incident in the story just like Claire wondered if her dreams were significant.
Becca's brother Andy has a girlfriend named Rye. Rye seems to lack the most development. Readers just don't get enough information about her to make her more than a "stick figure" walking among the more central fleshed out characters. The catty schoolgirls aka "the beatles" didn't gain much affection from me or from Claire and Becca. They seemed to be placed in the story only to detract attention from the real mystery surrounding the Shutterworth family. I found myself wishing they had been given more personality. When they get their "just rewards" from Claire and her friends I felt sorry to see the friends behave unkindly and Claire seemed to have regretted it also.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and while I would not classify it as one of my favorites I did find the time reading Dream Girl enjoyable. I enjoyed the fashion name dropping along with the peek behind the dressing room doors of stores, which unfortunately, will never be graced with my real presence. (I never knew some customers were treated with finger sandwiches and other delicacies while shopping.)
Dream Girl was more of an intriguing situation than a fast paced mystery. But the stroll was lovely.
What Other Bloggers Are Saying:
Liv's Book Reviews: "The writing in Dream Girl might not have been all that wonderful or captivating but the whole mystery of the story and the fun romance between Claire and Andy kept it all moving and left me satisfied. I would recommend Dream Girl as a nice light read along the lines of The Gallagher Girls and The Queen Geek Books..." (read more...)
The Book Muncher: "Dream Girl was definitely a satisfying and thrilling read that I recommend to all readers. Fans of stories with high style, high school, and high mystery will enjoy this novel." (read more...)
YA Book Realm: "It’s a great book to pick up if your looking for action, mystery, and just a touch of romance." (read more...)
Harmony Book Reviews: "The plot of Dream Girl involves so many things that it’s hard to believe it all fits in between the few hundred pages it does. Lauren Mechling has a way with words and she makes that happen, keeping the plot fast-paced and never bogging the read down with details." (read more...)
Abby (the) Librarian: "I would hand this one to middle-school mystery fans who like a splash of the paranormal." (read more...)
In Bed With Books: "I enjoyed DREAM GIRL, but the A-plot doesn’t hold up to any of the subplots. The paranormal element feels extraneous and didn’t seem to add much to the book as a whole. I believe I prefer the 10th-Grade Social Climber books, which Lauren Mechling coauthored." (read more...)
More Info:
- Reading level: Young Adult
- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (July 22, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385735219
- ISBN-13: 978-0385735216
- Source: Review copy from publisher
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 10/14/2008
Blog: The YA YA YAs (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Fiction, jenny davidson, Monthly Roundup, death by bikini, linda gerber, lauren mechling, impossible, nancy werlin, ya horror, alternate histories, david ellwand, dreamgirl, ruth ellwand, the explosionist, the mystery of the fool and the vanisher, thomas fahy, unspoken, ya mysteries, Add a tag
Or, some comments on a few noteworthy books I’ve read but haven’t reviewed since May.
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Between my lukewarm reaction to Impossible and my review of Perfect Chemistry, I won’t be surprised if people start to think I have really bad taste. Because as over-the-top as Perfect Chemistry is, I adored it. And though I can see why people liked, or even loved, Impossible, it didn’t do much for me.
Publisher’s description:
Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child’s birth. But Lucy is the first girl who won’t be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents and her childhood friend Zach beside her. Do they have love and strength enough to overcome an age-old evil?
So here’s my big problem with Impossible: I could believe Lucy and Zach loved each other, but Werlin didn’t have me believing that they were both actually *in* love until there were only about 50 pages left in the book. That was far, far too long after we were first told that they had feelings for each other, especially considering how essential their romantic relationship is in completing the quests to overcome the curse. And all that telling—about how Zach was in love with Lucy or how Lucy saw Zach without his shirt on and suddenly realized he was hot—did not make me believe they were in love. I think it’s partly due to the third-person omniscient narration (which can be done successfully in romance; see Joan Wolf’s A London Season) as Werlin used it in Impossible, which I felt detracted from the romance. Maybe it’s because when it comes to romances in YA lit, I’m so used to first-person narratives and all the intimacy and emotion it entails, but I just didn’t believe that Lucy and Zach were truly in love for a long time.
Dream Girl by Lauren Mechling
Claire Voyante has long had dreams in which the images she saw “were usually stupid and meaningless, like Henry holding a green umbrella with a frog on it or, say, a bright pink lock—things that I’d see later in front of me but that never lead me to anything groundbreaking.” Call them premonitions, call them extremely vivid dreams, but lately they’ve started to take over her life. Claire’s been dreaming every night only to wake up still exhausted, distracting her from school. Although the things she’s seeing in her dreams are becoming stranger, they might just be what she needs to help a friend.
The mystery aspect was predictable, yet it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. Dream Girl has an appropriately dreamy quality, particularly when it comes to the setting, and I actually wouldn’t mind if we end up seeing another book starring Claire.
Death By Bikini by Linda Gerber
For some reason, when i started reading Death By Bikini, I was under the impression that it took place on a Caribbean island. So when Aphra and Hisako started talking about noni, kava, and kukui nuts, I said, huh, that’s interesting. Then when Junior, the resort’s head of security, started talking in pidgin (excuse me, Hawaii Creole English, for the linguistic sticklers), I got even more confused. I had to flip through the first couple of chapters to see if Aphra mentioned where, exactly, the island is. And she never did.
Anyway, the story is about Aphra Behn Connolly, who lives with her father at the luxury island resort he manages. A family appears at the resort in the middle of the night with no reservations and Aphra’s father begins acting strangely. When the girlfriend of a rock star is strangled, Aphra is determined to solve the crime and discover the truth about their mysterious visitors.
Aside from my initial confusion, Death by Bikini was a pretty entertaining read. Not outstanding, but I have no problem recommending it. Plus, it’s the start of a mystery series for teens, which is nice to see since there’s a dearth of teen mysteries.
Unspoken by Thomas Fahy
Allison receives an email one day, a forwarded newspaper article about the death of a boy she knew. Harold Crawley drowned and was found dead in Meridian, North Carolina. Some people might see it simply as a tragedy that a person died so young. Not Allison. She knows that what Harold feared more than anything else was drowning. Because Allison and the five other children had lived with their parents at Jacob Crowley’s Divine Path cult, and Jacob had warned Allison that in five years, “Your greatest fear will consume you.” After Allison and the other children burned the cult’s compound down, killing all the adults, the kids are separated and taken in by foster families in different states. And five years later they each receive the same email as Allison. Allison worries that Jacob Crowley’s prophecy is coming true, but how can she convince the others, and how can they save themselves?
Unspoken has one abrupt ending. There are a few rather gruesome scenes, but overall, the horror is more psychological. I didn’t find it particularly scary, but it did keep my interest long enough to finish the book in one sitting.
The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher by David and Ruth Ellwand
I love Fairie-ality, so I have to admit to being a bit disappointed that this was not like Fairie-ality. It’s darker, atmospheric, more moody. A man is walking in the woods one day when he finds a stone with a hole in the center of it. Looking through it, he sees a ball of light and follows it to a clearing. He finds a chest with unusual things in it, left by a photographer who was trying to prove the existence of fairies. I think it would appeal more to fans of the -ology books than Fairie-ality fans.
Lots of great reviews of this one, especially at A Fuse #8 and Writing and Ruminating.
The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson
To start with, I LOVE the cover! It’s perfect for the book, an alternate history set in Scotland. Alfred Nobel still invented dynamite, but Napoleon won at Waterloo, and European powers are engaged in a constant power struggle. In order to support Scotland’s security, IRYLNS (the Institute for the Recruitment of Young Ladies for National Security, pronounced “irons”) takes the best and brightest of Scotland’s female students to “supply Scotland’s leaders (members of parliament, captains of industry, doctors, ministers, and so on) with the highly competent assistants they needed.”
Sophie lives with her great-aunt Tabitha, who helped found the program and has considerable power of her own. Sophie supposes she’ll enter IRYLNS after her schooling is complete, but for some reason great-aunt Tabitha doesn’t want that to happen. Meanwhile, an unknown person or group sets off a bomb outside Sophie’s boarding school, and the psychic hired for great-aunt Tabitha’s recent seance is murdered.
As I said, I loved the cover, and the story is great, too. Sophie is believably awkward and the intrigue is actually intriguing. The tone is suitably foreboding and the worldbuilding excellent. First in a trilogy, I believe, which makes me happily impatient, if such a thing is possible. (Or should that be impatiently happy?) I’m looking forward to the next book, at any rate.
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 3/2/2008
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Sydney Taylor Book Award, Amy Meltzer, mezuzah, Sarah Gershman, notable book, sh'ma, Kristina Swarner, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Amy Meltzer, mezuzah, Sarah Gershman, notable book, sh'ma, Kristina Swarner, Add a tag
Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.
SHOW NOTES:
> Author Amy Meltzer discusses her picture book A Mezuzah on the Door, an Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book and PJ Library selection
> Author Eric Kimmel shares mezuzah memories
> Author Sarah Gershman and illustrator Kristina Swarner talk about their Sydney Taylor Book Award winning picture book, The Bedtime Sh'ma: A Good Night Book. This book was also a National Jewish Book Award Finalist, and is a PJ Library selection.
> Author Maggie Anton shares mezuzah memories
Special background music for this episode is provided by The Bedtime Sh'ma Companion CD and by Cantor Jeff Klepper's "Mezuzah" song on the CD Shiron L'Yeladim. Our regular background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band.
Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel. Browse our online catalog to reserve books, post a review, or just to look around!
By: Barbara Bietz,
on 1/8/2008
Blog: Barbara Bietz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Sarah Lamstein, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Letter on the Wind, Boyds Mills Press, Letter on the Wind, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Boyds Mills Press, Sarah Lamstein, Add a tag
I am happy to welcome Sarah Lamstein to my blog! Sarah crafts heart- filled stories that are loved by children, parents, teachers, and librarians. Her newest picture book, LETTER ON THE WIND (Boyds Mills Press) just received a Sydney Taylor Honor Award for picture books.
Congratulations on the Sydney Taylor Book Award! How did you hear the news?
I received a very tantalizing email from Rachel Kamin, the chair of the Sydney Taylor Award committee asking me to call her. I did and was thrilled to hear that Letter on the Wind was selected as an Honor book. I was glad I could directly hear her enthusiasm for the work of her committee and that I could convey my excitement to her. It was great!!
Tell me a little about the book.
Letter on the Wind, a Chanukah tale, is a story of faith and generosity, skepticism and innocence. When a Middle Eastern village suffers a drought and the olives hang withered on the trees, the villagers cannot make olive oil to light their menorahs. They are resigned to a year without Chanukah, but one man, the poorest in the village, won’t accept that possibility. He writes a letter to the Almighty, asking for help with the dilemma. Help arrives, but with it come complications.
This tale reminds readers of the first Chanukah and of Mattathias’ bravery in protecting his faith.
Why were you drawn to a Jewish theme?
My first Jewish-themed book, Annie’s Shabbat, was a paean to the Shabos of my childhood. My editor asked if I could write a story like Annie’s Shabbat, but about Chanukah. Chanukah wasn’t as rich for me as our weekly observance of the Sabbath, with is preparation, its feast, its shul, its Havdalah, its time of peace and family. I could have written a Chanukah story about going to Joel Feldman’s each year, where his mother served a delicious meal, his grandfather being a butcher and always supplying his family with the fattest and juiciest hotdogs to go with our latkes.
My editor suggested that instead I research Jewish folktales to find one for Chanukah. Dov Noy’s Folktales of Israel proved a valuable source. One of the stories, a Passover tale entitled “Letter to the Almighty” captivated me with its image of a poor, innocent man sending a letter to the Almighty on the wind. It was the poetry of that image that set me to writing Letter on the Wind.
How much research was required to write the book?
I wanted to set the tale in the Middle East – a place of olive groves – in, say, the sixteenth century. I researched Jewish communal living in that time and place, found little, and broadened my scope to just plain communal living. I also looked a bit into the horticulture of olive trees and the process of making olive oil. I believe the illustrator, Neil Waldman, researched, among other things, menorahs. But rather than from research, the setting of the tale came more from my intuition and imagination.
How did you become a children’s writer?
After my first child was born, I began to explore writing for children but spent most of my early mothering years writing poetry. When our family spent two summers in Nepal for my husband’s work, I was drawn to the folk literature of the country and worked with a Nepali writer to produce a collection of tales for American readers. That project, From the Mango Tree and Other Folktales from Nepal, set me on the path to writing for children.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on old manuscript – something I’ve been clinging to for twenty years – a work of nonfiction for older readers. And in the back of my mind is a middle grade novel with a Jewish theme.
What are some fun facts about you?
I’m a puppeteer.
I love Motown.
I can play the Third Man Theme on my nose.
What is your favorite holiday?
My favorite holiday is Pesach because it involves a full table – filled with food and people gathered around it. I love the opportunity for discussion. I love the singing. But most of all, I love the long preparation – the quiet time in my kitchen preparing the ancient symbols – the roasted egg, the roasted shank bone, the horseradish, the charoseth. I feel like my mother, performing the same tasks as she. I feel like a part of a rich continuum.
To learn more about Sarah, please visit her web site at www.SarahLamstein.com
Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts about writing books for children. Congratulations on your well deserved Sydney Taylor Honor Award!
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 1/8/2008
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: awards, children's books, podcast, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Eco-Libris, Jewish Values Finder, Rachel Kamin, Linda Silver, Chana Rothman, Jewish Values Finder, Linda Silver, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Eco-Libris, Rachel Kamin, Chana Rothman, Add a tag
Click the play button on this flash player to listen to the podcast now:
Or click MP3 File to start your computer's media player.
SHOW NOTES:
This January 2008 episode offers themes of empowerment with these interviews:
> Raz Godelnik, founder of Eco-Libris, planting a tree for each book you read
> Chana Rothman, whose debut album We Can Rise shows off her "female-fronted earthy groove"
> Linda Silver, creator of The Jewish Values Finder, a database and book identifying values in Jewish children's books
> Rachel Kamin, chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, describing the 2008 winners of this award for Jewish lit for kids and teens
NEWS:
February 7, 2008, 3-4pm EST The Book of Life will host a live call-in show on the theme "Funny, That Book Doesn't Look Jewish!" Pam Ehrenberg, author of the middle-grade novel Ethan, Suspended, will be our guest, and we'll take calls for YOU, the audience! Please join us by calling in - instructions for particpating will appear on our web site: www.bookoflifepodcast.com
Background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band.
Books and CD's mentioned on the show may be borrowed from the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel. Browse our online catalog to reserve books, post a review, or just to look around!
By: Barbara Bietz,
on 1/7/2008
Blog: Barbara Bietz (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Sydney Taylor Book Award, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Add a tag
Hi Friends,
I thought you might be interested to know that the Sydney Taylor Book Awards have been announced. You can check it out on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SydneyTaylorAward
To see a full list of the awards, click here:
http://sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com/
Mazel Tov to all the winners!
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 1/7/2008
Blog: The Book of Life (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: awards, children's books, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Sydney Taylor Book Award, Add a tag
The winners of the 2008 Sydney Taylor Book Awards for the best in Jewish literature for children and teens have just been announced! Rachel Kamin, award committee chair, will be our guest on the January episode of The Book of Life. While you are waiting for that interview, please enjoy this video announcement of the awards! More info at www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.org or www.SydneyTaylorBookAward.blogspot.com.
This sounds very interesting. I'm not familiar with the author but will have to check her out.
I really love this cover. I also like the premise of the plot. I would have liked to here more about how you felt about the book though.