Lucy Dreaming

Gr 8 Up–Lucy, a smart, self-aware teenager who doesn’t fit in with her peers, prefers to spend her days with fictional characters. When she falls asleep each night, she wakes up as a different character. Her parents, scientists who conduct quantum physics experiments, explain why her dreams have become so vivid: their machine has caused her brain to “warp into the body of a living myth.” Angry at her parents for concealing this, she reaches out to Welsey, her next door neighbor who has a unique backstory and the ability to journey through dreams. Together, they navigate this new world, but it becomes apparent that they have different values, which introduces conflict into the otherwise lighthearted plot. Each dream sequence offers morsels of life lessons that build to reveal the dangers of toxic masculinity and the power of women. While the message is slightly awkward and heavy-handed, it packs a punch and neatly wraps up Lucy’s story arc. Dialynas pulls out all the stops, creating the perfect context for Lucy’s inner battles with popping colors and punchy action scenes that evoke the atmosphere of the dream sequences. Dyamnic panel layouts capture the emotional heartbeat of this tale.