The Case of the Girl from Déjà Vu

Gr 5 Up–The Nightmare Brigade is on the case, ridding people of their bad dreams one fear at a time. Professor Angus is the head of the mysterious Sleep Clinic, where he leads two precocious 14-year-olds: son Tristan and foster son Esteban. In the dreamscapes, the teens possess special powers; Angus monitors them from the lab and offers guidance. While the teens explore the wasteland nightmare of a young girl named Sarah, Esteban gets the peculiar feeling that he’s met her somewhere before, even though he has no memory of a time before Angus adopted him. There are more mysteries to be solved as Sarah joins the crew: Why does an intruder want to escape into a nightmare the team is trying to fix? What was Esteban’s life like before meeting Angus and Tristan? And why does it seem like Angus knows a lot more than he’s letting on? The story leaves room for many more thrilling questions to be answered. The artwork complements the story line seamlessly with its angular and spidery characters reminiscent of Tim Burton’s depictions. There are some delightful artistic choices, like the meticulously detailed eyes mirrored throughout the story as well as the gremlin horror of specters and villains that populate each nightmare. Angus, Tristan, and Esteban are white; Tristan uses a wheelchair.