I am Woman, Hear me ROAR!

Today I changed a flat tire in the rain. (I blew it last night, but it was too dark to see, so I didn't change it until this morning). I'm feeling pretty tough. I got the car jacked up and the old tire off ALL BY MYSELF! And then someone drove by and noticed me sitting in a puddle, and offered to help. So he put on the spare. And now I have a new tire on my car and a tasty sandwich in my belly (the repair shop is rather close to the Italian Store.)

Anyway, books.

Wake Lisa McMann

Initially, I wasn't going to read this one because the premise didn't grab me. (It sounded like it might be scary. I don't do scary. Children's scary is ok, but teen and adult scary? TOO SCARY. I am a wuss.)

But, I had to read it for work and am SO GLAD! I would have finished this in one sitting if I didn't have that pesky day job that was making me read the book in the first place.

Janie falls into other people's dreams. If you fall asleep near her, she'll be sucked into your dream while still be conscious of what her body is doing in the waking world. Nightmares are the worst--she's paralyzed and it looks like she's having a seizure.

She knows she's a freak, destined to live alone, never letting anyone too close, and being slightly afraid of some of her classmates, knowing the dark thoughts that lurk in their sleep.

McMann's writing is fast, sections are date and time stamped, with awake action alternating with other people's dreams.

See, it sounds like it would be scary horror ish. But it's not. It's hard to explain. It's part love story, part super natural-y, and part police detective! The sequel sounds much more police detective like, and I can't wait until my name comes up on the hold list. I'm also excited to see more of Janie's relationship with her mother--in the text, we get Janie's impressions of it, but you know there's more there, and that there's more to her mother than Janie allows herself to see and think about.

Oh! There's been talk here in kidlitland in the last year about class in literature. Janie is poor and white and her issues with the popular girls are class-based. It also provides a good reason as to why she hasn't seen a doctor about these issues--she doesn't have insurance and can't afford it, so it's gone uninvestigated.

Anyway, check it out, because it was very different than what I thought it would be, and I mean that in the best way possible.