Dreamland Social Club

March 28, 2011
When Jane and her brother inherit the house in Coney Island where their late mother grew up, they move in with their father, planning to stay one year to prepare the house for sale. Sixteen-year-old Jane has lived everywhere from London to Tokyo, but amid Coney Island's rundown attractions and checkered history, she hopes to find clues about the mother she desperately misses. Palpable without being melodramatic, Jane's longing is well-wrought, as is the supporting cast of teenage dwarves, giants, and other Brooklyn natives, including a love interest for Jane. The mysteries Altebrando (What Happens Here) weaves into her story (what is the Dreamland Social Club? what iconic Coney sites do the keys Jane finds unlock? why is the carousel horse chained to a radiator in their living room so important?) will keep readers engaged, though not much really happens. Rather, this is a languid, introspective novel about a search for identity and meaning; against the backdrop of impending gentrification and development, both Jane and Coney Island itself are caught between the pull of the past and the uncertainty of the future. Ages 14âup.

Starred review from April 15, 2011

In this evocative homage to Coney Island, the "Playground of the World," a 16-year-old girl searches for clues about the mother she barely remembers.

Upon their grandfather's death, Jane and Marcus Dryden and their father move into their mother's childhood home on Coney Island. Jane soon discovers that her mother, Clementine Porcelli, the daughter of two carnies, founded the still-active Dreamland Social Club at Coney Island High School. She sets out to learn more about Clementine and the mysterious club. With the help of an old set of keys and a tattooed musician named Leo, she unlocks the various haunts of her mother's youth and finds the sense of adventure she lost when her mother died. Along the way, Jane realizes that "normal" is a matter of perspective and gains insight into the complicated and contentious history of the town's periods of growth and decline. Altebrando provides exceptional depth in both the setting and the motley cast of Coney Islanders, teen and adult, living and dead. Occasionally breaking the third-person narrative with Jane's memories of her mother, the author breathes life into the long-dead Clementine, while weaving in the attractions of Coney Island's fabled past.

The result is a memorable tale of personal growth and acceptance that will make teens eager to join a Dreamland Social Club of their own. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-When Jane and her brother inherit their late mother's childhood home in Coney Island, the siblings and their dad leave London and move into it. There they experience a shockingly different culture filled with roller coasters, dwarves, bearded girls, and mermaids. Struggling to find her place in their new, unconventional high school, Jane stumbles upon a secret social club that her mother founded years earlier. As this discovery raises even more questions, she searches for answers from Leo, a strangely familiar tattooed boy. They explore the mysteries surrounding her family's carnie past with a set of hidden keys belonging to the amusement park. This book does a wonderful job of pairing eccentric details concerning Coney Island's past with a whimsical undertone. Any teen who has felt like an outsider in a new environment will devour this book.-Stephanie Malosh, Donoghue Elementary School, Chicago, IL

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.