Poet Anderson…of Nightmares

Gr 10 Up—Jonas Anderson's parents died in a plane accident, and his brother was forced to quit school so he could support him. The brothers have been in a horrifying car accident. Jonas has survived, but Alan is hospitalized in a deep coma and will not wake up. Jonas follows through on the job his brother was about to start at the Eden, which is the same hotel where his parents used to work. The teen realizes things are not what they seem at the hotel, but he's distracted with visiting his brother, attending a new high school, and adjusting to his job. The siblings have inherited the ability to visit dreams from their mother; before Alan's accident, they were searching for a deeply hidden dream city that Alan insists exists. Jonas continues his visits to the Dream World, hoping he will run into his brother. One evening, he is attacked by a massive, petrifying creature. A Dream Walker named Jarabec comes to Jonas's rescue and becomes his mentor. Soon, Jonas encounters Night Terrors and murderous Dream Walkers; if he dies in the dream world, he also dies in the waking world. Like a teen Blade Runner, this book has nonstop action with dramatic, heart-pounding escapes from the evil clutches of the Night Terrors, Dream Stealers, and REM—a Dream Walker hoping to steal Jonas's soul. The protagonist falls in love with a beautiful Lucid Dreamer he first meets at school, and this light romantic plot thread lends more layers to this electric read.