Lucid

January 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Sloane is a motivated student living in Mystic, Connecticut, with her mom, dad, and two brothers, and she has several close friends. She hopes to attend Columbia after graduation. Maggie is a loner and a free spirit who is working on her GED while pursuing an acting career in New York City. Her mother works long hours, and the teen is left to take care of her seven-year-old sister. These two girls have one thing in common, though: when they fall asleep, each dreams about the other's life. The dreams are so vivid that each one feels as if she is the other person. As their lives become complicated by first loves, worried parents, and unexpected friendships, Sloane's and Maggie's realities begin to blur. Are they both real? Is one of them mentally ill and imagining the other? Are they the same person? The tense story builds to a riveting climax, pulling readers in multiple directions along the way and forcing them to guess what is real and what is a dream. The plot is told from the girls' alternating points of view; both of them are well-drawn and dynamic protagonists. Even the secondary characters are fully developed. This first novel from a screenplay-writing duo is wildly unique and completely engrossing from the first page to the last. The ending begs to be reread, and teens are left anxiously wondering about the girls and their fates. This one will fly off the shelves.-Tammy Turner, Centennial High School, Frisco, TX

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