dreams

When We Got Lost in Dreamland by Ross Welford

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What would you do if you had the power to control your dreams? Would you meet people that you would never be able to meet in real life? Would you have crazy adventures? In Ross Welford’s latest book, When We Got Lost in Dreamland, Malky discovers a device that allows him and his little brother, Seb, to share dreams and control them, which has disastrous consequences.

Malky has never really got on with his little brother, Seb. He’s the annoying little brother who always gets in the way. Their relationship changes one day, when Malky brings home the Dreaminators, seemingly harmless devices that hang over your bed and allow you to control your dreams. Malky has stolen them from the back yard of a house down the road from him, after a dare from a girl at school. At first, Malky thinks that they are just cheap and tacky, but after reading the instructions Malky and Seb try them out. They discover that they can share their dreams and control them. They can have fun in their dreams and if something gets too weird or scary, they can alter the dream or wake themselves up. The more dreams that Malky and Seb share, the closer they become, until the night that disaster strikes. While sharing a dream something scary happens, and while Malky escapes and wakes up, Seb remains lost in the dream. No matter what Malky or his family try Seb won’t wake up, so he is transferred to hospital. The doctors are perplexed about Seb’s condition and no one seems to believe Malky about the Dreaminators. Malky knows that he is the only one who can rescue Seb from the dream and he must own up to the theft of the Dreaminators in order to get help from its creator, Kenneth McKinley. Will Malky be able to save Seb before the doctors and his family pull the plug?

When We Got Lost in Dreamland is another wonderfully original story from Ross Welford. Like each of his books, this one makes you think, care deeply for the characters and makes you leap into the unknown. I love how Ross takes a seemingly impossible idea, like time travel or controlling dreams, and makes it happen. Ross throws you straight into the story and hooks you in with a taste of what is to come. Malky’s voice is clear from the first page and you want to keep reading to discover how things went so wrong.

One of the things that I love about Ross Welford’s books is the way that he uses foreshadowing. He teases little details of the story to make you keep reading, like ‘It turns out it’s all going to become a lot clearer, but not necessarily in a good way.’ He’s telling you that you will get answers to your questions eventually.

Relationships play a big part in this story, whether it is between Malky and Susan, Malky and Mr McKinley, Malky and Seb, or Malky and his dad. Malky isn’t sure about Susan at first but their relationship grows throughout the story as they are thrown together both in and out of school. She is different from anyone else that Malky knows but she becomes an important ally. Malky isn’t honest with Mr McKinley when they first meet, but the more that he gets to know Mr McKinley, the more important he becomes to helping Malky save his brother. Mr McKinley is a curious character who I enjoyed learning more about as the story progressed. Malky’s relationship with Seb changes the more they share dreams and Malky finds that he really does care about Seb. When Seb gets lost in Dreamland, Malky does whatever it takes to get him back again, including putting himself in danger. Malky’s relationship with his dad is quite strained and we learn there are complicated reasons why his dad hasn’t been part of his life for a while. The lack of trust that Malky’s dad has in him infuriated me.

When We Got Lost in Dreamland another fantastic book from one of my favourite authors. I highly recommend all of his books, which are great for class sets for Year 7/8. There is plenty in Ross’s books for readers to ponder and his characters stick with you.

Pop! by Catherine Bruton

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There are so many different types of reality shows on TV these days, involving everything from singing and dancing, to cooking and building.  Suzanne Collins took the reality show idea and turned it into a fight to the death in The Hunger Games and in Catherine Bruton’s new book, Pop!, one of her characters has worked out the rules of talent TV and reckons she knows how to play the system.

The first round of auditions was a bit mad. All these wannabe popstars sitting around trying to look wacky/soulful/tragic (delete as appropriate) to catch the attention of the TV cameras.

At least we had a cracking back story. The story of me, Agnes, Jimmy and baby Alfie; the tears, the tragedy, the broken homes and feuding families, the star-crossed lovers. And only some of it was made up.

If I say so myself, it was genius: a sure-fire golden ticket to stratospheric stardom. Or at least that was the plan…

Pop! is a terrific story full of moments that will make you laugh, cry, cringe, jump for joy, and possibly want to slap a certain character.  The story is told from the point of view of the three main characters; Elfie, Jimmy and Agnes.  Elfie is the smart-ass who always comes up with crazy schemes that Jimmy gets roped into.  Her mum is incredibly unreliable and always walks out when times get tough, so Elfie is often left to look after her baby brother Alfie.  Jimmy and Elfie have been best friends for as long as they can remember, so Jimmy always gets involved in Elfie’s schemes.  Jimmy is a fantastic swimmer and his dad trains him hard so that he might get a chance to go to the Olympics.  It’s one day when Elfie and Jimmy are hanging out under the bridge that Elfie announces their next big scheme – they’re going to enter the Pop to the Top talent contest.  Their only problem is that they don’t really have any talent.  Then they hear a girl singing.  That girl is Agnes, the daughter of one of the ‘immos,’ the immigrant workers who have taken the jobs of local workers at the power station.  Agnes has an amazing voice and so Elfie ropes her into being in her girl band for Pop to the Top.  Agnes and Jimmy have no idea what they are getting themselves in for, and as Elfie weaves more and more lies, their lives and the lives of those around them spiral out of control.

Catherine Bruton has created three very different characters who are all doing what they believe is right.  Even though Elfie creates these twisted versions of their lives, she is only doing so to try and win the money that she thinks will solve all their problems.  She cares so much for her dad and her little brother and wants to give them the life they deserve.  Jimmy and Agnes go along with Elfie’s scheme because they want what’s best for their families too.  At first Elfie made me laugh with her plans and her fake back stories, then she made me want to slap her, but by the end of the story she had redeemed herself.  Agnes is a really interesting character because she really grows throughout the story.  At first she’s quiet and withdrawn because nobody, apart from her family, talks to her.  Not only is she the daughter of an immo, but she also doesn’t speak much English.  She says that she is a collector of words and she picks up new and interesting words from listening to conversations.  Throughout the story she grows in confidence and manages to settle the moths in her stomach when she sings.

I absolutely love Pop! and the wonderful characters that Catherine has created. Whenever I watch a reality show now I’ll be looking out for people who know Elfie’s Rules of Talent TV.  If you love Frank Cottrell Boyce’s books, like Millions and Framed, then Pop! is definitely the book for you.

5 out of 5 stars