Reading middle grade fiction, especially in the fantasy genre, is so much fun and this one doesn’t fail to entertain.
The first book in a promised duology, The Nightmare Thief is set in a small town in the United States, where several of the locals have “small magic,” including Maren’s grandmother, Lishta, who owns a dream store, selling dreams (and even nightmares) to people with problems to fix. There is only one very important, make-it-or-break-it rule: You cannot give a dream to another person without their consent. Recently, though, Maren’s beloved older sister Hallie was in a serious car accident, which left her in a coma, and everyone’s giving up on her. The hospital is ready to discharge her into a long-term care facility, too far away for Maren to visit, and Maren thinks everything is all her fault. She decides to risk it all to try to save Hallie by slipping her some dreams, hoping to reach her. But she’s caught and blackmailed by the evil Ms. Malo — who wants Maren to create an unlimited supply of bone-chilling nightmares for her — and now the whole town is in grave danger.
Middle grade is fun because kids have less strict expectations than adult readers. If the author wants to invent a random East Coast town filled with magic, kids don’t think twice about immersing themselves in that world. (As an adult, I’m wondering how no one tried to take advantage of this town before this story – this seems to be a world with cell phones, but no social media.)
I liked Maren’s character and think that a lot of kids in that age group – somewhere between being children but not yet with the full responsibilities of a teenager – can relate to being in a situation they want to solve for themselves without adult help, even if they really do still need that assistance. This book elevates that fight for independence to a life-and-death situation and adds a magical twist, but I don’t think that diminishes the relatability.
I also liked that Maren’s (former?) best friend was a boy, but there are no romantic feelings ever even implied between the two, just a strong friendship. Having a book with a strong boy-girl friendship was refreshing and important for kids who are the targeted age for this book. I think my own 9-year-old – who also really likes magic – will enjoy this book soon, and I’m excited to share it with him.
However, while this is labeled as the first book of a duology, I am curious where it will go from here. There wasn’t a cliffhanger or any real unanswered questions by the end of this book, so it will be interesting to see if the next book focuses on these same characters or introduces us to completely new ones. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Sourcebooks Early Reads. It has not influenced my opinion.