Judge A Book By Its Cover
Book Reviews and Synopses
Alphabet of Dreams
Susan Fletcher
Fletcher, Susan. Alphabet of Dreams. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. New York, New York. 2006.
Alphabet of Dreams is, in a nutshell, the ramblings of an insane, superstitious, old woman; or so it seems at first. In the beginning it is basically an alphabetized dream journal that is supposedly prophetic. By the end of the book I was glad I read it, you feel like you experienced a small part of this woman’s life, it was a sort of emotional autobiography. Her other book, Shadow Spinner, is a similar disappointment. It is a collection of Ouija Board Results and their potentially foreboding messages.
Every chapter contains a different dream, and they all end with a prediction of what the dream means and when the ominous event will take place. Chapters A through L take place in ancient Persia. A- Arabian Nights; B- Bats Swallow Me Whole; C- Camel Dies Beneath Me; D- Death MIce Swarm; E- Exiled Daughter; F- Frogs Fall from the Sky; G- Giant Scorpions; H- … well, you get the idea. Every few chapters the dreams start to take place in another region of the world. Some in the rainforest, others in urban New York; the insanity is never ending.
Somehow I was able to get through through the book and extract the chapters that are the worst, best, and most ridiculous. One my favorites and most utterly ludicrous, would have to be the chapter in which she dies, and is resurrected by the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum giving her fresh unicorn milk. Possibly the best, and also worst, is The Manhattan Apartment, chosen for its lack of plot, characters and scenery. It takes place in a one room apartment. The End. Literally no characters, no dialogue, and minimal furniture. It took the award for best because of its sheer dullness and utter normality, and for the same reason, worst.
Near the end, the dreams become more subdued, even solemn, as if Ms. Fletcher has lost her flair for fantasy and developed an awareness for real issues in the world. With chapter titles such as, The Rise and Fall of Corporate America, and How the Lab Rat Lost his Fur, you start to wonder what happened to this flamboyant author during the writing of Alphabet of Dreams to turn her happily terrified manner into one of absolute gravity.
At first, Alphabet of Dreams appears frivolous and trite, but by the end of the book I understood that it was more than just a ridiculous dream journal, it was the story of someone’s emotional development. I felt like I took a journey with the author, and was pleasantly surprised at the sincerity.
2 out of 5 stars
4/26/12
Contributed by Alista Wikle