130. Into the Dream by William Sleator

Into the Dream by William Sleator (US) - (Canada)

Pages: 154
Ages: 9+
Finished: May 6, 2012
First Published: 1979
Publisher: Apple/Scholastic
Genre: children, horror, science fiction
Rating: 3/5



First sentence: "The first dream did not seem strange to him."

Publisher's Summary: "Paul has a recurring nightmare, about a small boy in awful danger. When he learns that his classmate Francine has it, too, the two of them join forces to solve the mystery and save the boy--before their bad dream becomes a terrifying reality."

Acquired: Purchased a used copy at a thrift store.

Reason for Reading: This is from the random bookshelf that I am currently reading from for my own books and random bookshelf challenge I created for myself.  William Sleator is my favourite YA horror writer.

I thought I'd read this one before but could not recall the story at all while reading it and now don't believe I have.  This book is atypical of the usual Sleator book.  It is written for a younger audience, not his usual teen audience.  The two protagonists are twelve and the writing is simple, probably on about a Gr. 4 level.  I wasn't duly impressed with the story either which was disappointing as it has been a while since I've read a Sleator and I was looking forward to this quite a bit.  Keeping in mind the book is for younger children, the plot is quite simple and the story follows a normal increasing plotline with lots of forward motion and excitement.  The story is one whole run  towards the end.  It does, however, end with Sleator's trademark that's not really the end-ending, what I like to call the Twilight Zone ending.  As long as the reader is not too sensitive the youngster will have fun with the story which involves esp, UFOs, telepathy, telekinesis and men in black.  No where near Sleator's best but a suitable introduction to the author for pre-teens.