Dreamology

by Lucy Keating

Overview

Vibrantly offbeat and utterly original, Lucy Keating’s debut novel combines the unconventional romance of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with the sweetness and heart of Jenny Han.

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together, they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Because he doesn’t exist.

But when Alice walks into class on her first day at a new school, there he is. Real Max is nothing like Dream Max. He’s stubborn and complicated. And he has a whole life Alice isn’t a part of. Getting to know each other in reality isn’t as perfect as Alice always hoped.

Alarmingly, when their dreams start to bleed into their waking hours, the pair realize that they might have to put an end to a lifetime of dreaming about each other. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062380005
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Lucy Keating lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her tall, smiley husband and short, scruffy dog. She’s been writing and editing teen romance for twelve years professionally, and for many years before that. In addition to writing, reading, and watching absolutely everything, Lucy enjoys baking, taking weekend road trips in beautiful New England, and rewriting pop songs in tribute to her dog, who is unappreciative. Visit Lucy at www.lucykeating.com.

Editorial Reviews

This is a sweet, quirky romance with appealing characters and loving descriptions of Boston landmarks…Keating is particularly good at capturing the surreal nature of dreams. Give this one to fans of Jenny Han and YA romance.” — School Library Journal

“A fun spin on contemporary romance.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“Alice is a fun, sarcastic heroine, and readers will be more than happy to join her on her journey both in and out of dreams.” — ALA Booklist

“This story of the ultimate meet–cute just gets cuter and cuter.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

A fun spin on contemporary romance.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

01/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—Alice Rowe has a wonderful relationship with her boyfriend, Max. They do fun and exciting things and go to unusual places around the world. There's just one catch—Max exists only within Alice's dreams. In the waking world, Alice is dealing with family issues, a move to Boston, and a new start at a private school. As she sits in class on her first day at Bennett Academy, she is completely amazed when Max, the boy of her dreams, walks through the door. Getting to know Max in real life, however, is surprisingly complicated, even when he admits that he also dreams about Alice and they find that they have a shared history involving the Center for Dream Discovery. Eventually, the two realize that they need to end their dreaming relationship in order to move forward with their real lives, but they now face the challenge of forging a relationship in the real world. This is a sweet, quirky romance with appealing characters and loving descriptions of Boston landmarks, but there are serious notes as well; Alice's mother has essentially walked out on her and her father in order to pursue research projects, and Max has a troubled relationship with his parents because of his sister's death in an accident. Keating is particularly good at capturing the surreal nature of dreams in her detailed depictions of dream settings and events. VERDICT Give this one to fans of Jenny Han and YA romance.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

School Library Journal

2016-01-09
When Alice starts at a new high school, she finds the boy she's been dreaming of her entire life. For as long as she can remember Alice has had wild and whimsical adventures in her sleep with a magnificent guy, Max. In her dreams, they've grown up together and fallen deeply in love. So it blows her mind when she enters her new high school only to meet, face to face, the boy of her dreams in real life. Turns out he's been dreaming of her too. Trying to get to the bottom of the sleep-time mystery brings them to the Center for Dream Discovery, where, as youngsters, they were both sent due to nightmares. How and why they have linked dreams that are now oozing into waking life are the big questions. What begins as potentially intriguing, light sci-fi gradually devolves into preposterousness that doesn't even try to make sense. Alice's first-person, present-tense narration is laced with puerile dream sequences that are more silly (giant Oreo cookies delivered in pizza boxes, Kate Moss as a flea-market vendor) than story-advancing. If readers are after a tale in which every character finds a soul mate, then this fluff is a success. Otherwise, the story diminishes in interest and plausibility as wacky, parrot-hoarding dream analysts attach thingamabobs to Max and Alice to disunite their dreams. Formulaic teen romance decorated with science-fiction mishmash. (Romance. 13-16)

Kirkus Reviews

Alice is a fun, sarcastic heroine, and readers will be more than happy to join her on her journey both in and out of dreams.

ALA Booklist

This story of the ultimate meet–cute just gets cuter and cuter.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

This story of the ultimate meet–cute just gets cuter and cuter.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books