An engrossing examination of the science behind the little-known world of sleep. Like many of us, journalist David K. Randall never gave sleep much thought. That is, until he began sleepwalking. One midnight crash into a hallway wall sent him on an investigation into the strange science of sleep. In Dreamland, Randall explores the research that is investigating those dark hours that make up nearly a third of our lives. Taking readers from military battlefields to children’s bedrooms, Dreamland shows that sleep isn't as simple as it seems. Why did the results of one sleep study change the bookmakers’ odds for certain Monday Night Football games? Do women sleep differently than men? And if you happen to kill someone while you are sleepwalking, does that count as murder? This book is a tour of the often odd, sometimes disturbing, and always fascinating things that go on in the peculiar world of sleep. You’ll never look at your pillow the same way again.
Friends William, Robert, and Annie are on the cusp of adulthood while the world is on the brink of war. It is a Canadian summer in 1939 and Robert and Annie’s love has blossomed, even as the inevitability of the boys joining up means separation and the first of many losses. Fearing he might not return, Robert makes William promise to take care of Annie. Every arena of their lives is infiltrated by the war, from the home front to the underground of queer London to the bloody battlefields of Italy. Even in the aftermath, in the shadow of The Dreamland, these friends fight their own inner battles: to have faith in their right to love and be loved, to honour their promises and ultimately find their way “home.”
Nine-year-old Eddie has such a wonderful imagination that late one night he catches a Sandman who escorts him to Dreamland. Once there, he learns Mortimer has cast an evil spell on the Sandman's sand with one diabolical aim: to steal Eddie's imagination. Eddie's only hope to break the spell and get back home safely is to find the last good wizard in Dreamland. During that journey, he encounters many perils in his desperate race against time. All of this happens because Eddie is not asleep as he should be. Eddie is Wide Awake in Dreamland. Conjuring memories of such classics as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, John Duel's Wide Awake in Dreamland celebrates its 20th anniversary as a treasured favorite in the library of children's literature. From the whimsy of the clueless but well-meaning Sandmen to the terrifying Trogs, Wide Awake in Dreamland packs its page-turning story full of adventure. Booklist said "this rollicking fantasy has it all" and those words are as true today as they were when the book was first published in 1992. March 1, 1992 Booklist review: This rollicking fantasy has it all: an exciting plot, a likable hero, an evil warlock, a powerful wizard who's "just a girl," tiny sandmen who sound suspiciously like leprechauns, hordes of awful creatures, and a kindly giant who isn't tall. Nine-year-old Eddie has a terrific imagination. That's why he's able to catch Sandy, the sandman. Though initially shocked that Eddie can see him, Sandy recovers quickly and invites Eddie to Dreamland, assuring him that nothing can harm him as long as he's really asleep. Eddie accepts the invitation, but when the pair reach Dreamland, they learn that Mortimer, the evil warlock, has tainted the sleep sand so he can steal Eddie's imagination. The only one who can help Eddie now is the wizard Beni, and the expedition to find Beni results in one adventure after another. Middle-school fantasy lovers won't be able to put this book down, and older readers will also enjoy the puns and silly situations-even though Eddie is only nine. A wonderful read-aloud. -Chris Sherman "bright, original...swift and involving." -Children's Bookwatch "a spell binder... This is a fairy tale for children of all ages." -Abilene Reporter-News
Love can be a very dangerous thing. After her sister left, Caitlin felt lost. Then she met Rogerson. When she’s with him, nothing seems real. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a larger problem than being without him? “Another pitch-perfect offering from Dessen.” —Booklist, starred review Also by Sarah Dessen: Along for the Ride Just Listen Keeping the Moon Lock and Key The Moon and More Someone Like You That Summer This Lullaby The Truth About Forever What Happened to Goodbye
Tracy Raver and Kelley Ryden's photographs of babies at rest, nestled in soft surroundings, are pure magic. After airing on the today Show in September 2009, the photographer's portraits of sleeping babies caused a national sensation, people cannot get enough of these slumbering babes! in Sleeping Beauties: Newborns in Dreamland, their lens has captured newborns as they inhabit that magical place, a world where past and future dreams come together in an ethereal realm. In most instances, the babies portrayed are brand new and on their way home for the very first time. It is in this state of newness, of transition from their warm cocoon of the past nine months to their journey of a new life, that they capture the newborns as they slumber, dream, and awaken to their new surroundings.
Dea Donahue has been able to travel through people's dreams since she was six years old. Her mother taught her the three rules of walking: Never interfere. Never be seen. Never walk the same person's dream more than once. Dea has never questioned her mother, not about the rules, not about the clocks or the mirrors, not about moving from place to place to be one step ahead of the unseen monsters that Dea's mother is certain are right behind them. Then a mysterious new boy, Connor, comes to town and Dea finally starts to feel normal. As Connor breaks down the walls that she's had up for so long, he gets closer to learning her secret. For the first time she wonders if that's so bad. But when Dea breaks the rules, the boundary between worlds begins to deteriorate. How can she know what's real and what's not?
Alexander Carter, after finding a key that transports him to the land of childhood dreams, enters Dreamland every night to discover dragons, fairies, and giants and save Dreamland from the realm of nightmares with his friends Paddington, Kiwi, and Nastajia.
Larry lay under the trees upon the soft, green grass, with his hat tilted far forward over his eyes and his grimy hands clasped together beneath his head, wishing with all his might first one thing and then another, but always that it was not so warm. When the children had gone to school in the morning, they had seen Larry's figure, as they passed along the street, stretched out full-length beneath the trees near the gutter curbstone; and when they returned, there he was still. They looked at him with curiosity; and some of the boys even paused beside him and bent over to see if he were sunstruck. He let them talk about him and discuss him and wonder at him as they would, never stirring, and scarcely daring to breathe, lest they be induced to stay and question him. He wanted to be alone. He wanted to lie lazily under the trees, and watch the sunbeams as they flirted with the leaves, and hear the birds gossip with one another, and feel the breeze as it touched his hot temples and soothed him with its soft caresses.
