In Your Dreams

Do you ever wake up relieved to find out that your dream (or nightmare) isn't real? You aren't really at work in your pajamas without having showered or combed your hair. You aren't really headed to an exam for a class you haven't attended, from a book that's inside a locker for which you can't remember the combination. You aren't really dying.

The young adult novel Wake by Lisa McMann takes those dreams to a new level. Janie, a high school student who lives on the wrong side of the tracks with her alcoholic mother, is sucked into other people's dreams. If someone in the room falls asleep and begins to dream, she goes into a sort of trance and experiences the dream with them. Watching a businessman give a speech in his underwear is annoying, but harmless enough. Experiencing the nightmare memories of your good friends is another matter.

This book had an interesting premise, it's been popular with teens, and I wanted to see where it went. The story held my attention, and there's a little romance in it for the Twilight fans. It might have been right up my alley as a teen. As an adult, however, I have a couple of problems with it.

First of all, the teens are so profane. I realize that teens swear, but is it necessary to portray this much of it? I wouldn't be excited to have my teen read it. The teens are also pretty casual with alcohol, sex and drugs. Admittedly, the heroine and hero of the book stay above much of this, and I wouldn't say that drinking, casual sex or drug use looks glamorous. But given the wealth of good fiction for teens, it seems a bit over the top.

The other problem I have with it is that it portrays yet another romance that has so little to do with relationship. These characters rarely seem to speak before they know they love each other. The chemistry is everything. Very similar to soap operas, romantic comedy films and yes, Twilight. These characters find all of their needs fulfilled, seemingly forever, in someone they've hardly had a full conversation with.

My grumbling aside, I took some time to read up on the author, Lisa McMann. It turns out she is from Holland, MI, and she graduated from Calvin College the same year that I did. I had to get out the old Bod Book to see what she looked like, and though she looked familiar, I don't remember knowing her at all. Unsuccessful Dutch bingo. Calvin posted an interview with her that tackled the complaints I just made. She answered that her goal is not to "teach" anything through her books, but to connect with teens. If she successfully connects with teens, they often write her letters, and she can respond. She also has found that some readers look up other things she has written, including some older short stories that deal with spiritual issues, and they ask her why she wrote about that subject matter.

As a writer, I can completely understand why she does not limit herself to a "message," and why she needs to write a variety of characters. As a parent, I wish my child would not read a book where the f-word and Jesus Christ show up with such regularity. Reading the interview, though, helped me understand her point of view, even if I would choose to do it differently myself. In my own book. If I ever write one.

In the end, I'm left to think I liked certain aspects of it, and I probably would have loved it as a teen. The plausibility of the dream visiting is never an issue--it reads like good fantasy. The plausibility of the real world in the novel is harder to believe, but to elaborate on that would require a plot spoiler, so I won't say more.

I'll be interested to see where McMann's career leads her.