I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
The Dreaming Place
by
Charles de Lint
urban fantasy in a Kindle edition that was published by Triskell Press on February 4, 2016 and has 148 pages.
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Fourteenth in the Newford urban fantasy series for Young Adult readers and revolving around a fictional village. The focus is on cousins Nina Caraballo and Ashley Enys with critical appearances by Cassie Washington and Bones. Not to worry about book order, the stories stand alone, although some characters do recur.
My Take
Yep, these are some odd dreams Nina is having. She never knows what kind of animal she’s going to transform into. It’s always such a challenge for her to a) figure out what she is and b) how to move in that form. De Lint does a great job of making me feel awkward as I read, as well as providing the animal’s perspective.
Hmmm, does that mean that de Lint uses third person global subjective point-of-view? We do experience the story primarily from Nina’s and Ash’s perspectives with additional views from Cassie and others.
I do feel for Ashley. Abandoned by both parents. Grieving the one, hating the other. Torn from her homeland. Besides her obsession with the occult, she’s ditching school, making friends among the homeless, and the anger . . . oh my, the anger could set the world on fire. Yeah well, no one said grief had to make sense.
I sure do appreciate Cassie’s point about negative and positive energies.
Hmmm, don’t judge a book by its cover . . . another good point. I had to laugh at Lusewen’s point about Ashley not really being open-minded. It’s so much like any one of us who likes to think we march to a different drummer and yet we try to fit in with our own particular clique.
Nina’s parents are 180-degrees from Judy’s, who are second-generation Chinese-American with an obsession for planning Judy’s life out to the ult. Another typical experience for Young Adults. Nina’s, Judy’s, and Ash’s concerns about fellow students and school are so real world. De Lint really gets it. You can’t go wrong reading de Lint.
Poor Nina. Like all kids, she’s embarrassed by her parents, wishing they’d “leave that whole-earth folksiness at the shows”. She’s also embarrassed by her “blackouts”. She does, however, view school with a good eye and figures if you have to go, you might as well do the best you could.
Both Nina and Ashley are seeking something. Nina wants relief from her cousin and her scary dreams. Ashley wants her mother back. Both girls have their character arc to fulfill. As usual with a de Lint, there are some good lessons in here that he puts across well.
The Dreaming Place is driven by its characters with a focus on Native American mythology. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of action too. Nina’s dreams. Ash’s “adventures” on our world and in Otherworld. The assassin tracking the object of Ya-wau-tse’s desire.
The story is a journey of being true to yourself, being open to the world around you even as you dance around animal and spiritual attack.
It’s a god in need of nourishment, but Life is all about balance. Good and bad.
The Story
A spirit wants the world to revolve around her, and she intends to claim the soul dedicated to her.
The Characters
Nina Caraballo is in high school, hating her awful cousin. Her parents are still hippies living in the 1960s. They do sound pretty cool. Her father, John, is part Kickaha, and prefers action to inaction; her mother, Gwen, still wears her braid down to her waist. The grieving English-born Ashley Enys is Nina’s goth-loving cousin with a passion for the occult. Her mother, Gwen’s twin, died three years ago and her father abandoned her. John’s granddad is Nana Quickturtle’s father.
Cassandra “Cassie” Washington, a fortuneteller, is the closest person Ashley has to a best friend. Bones, Cassie’s friend, is a juju man from the Kickaha tribe. Grandmother Toad is the Earth Mother in Otherworld. Lusewen is one of the spirits. Kyfy is a raven. Hunros is a goshawk. Ya-wau-tse is a winter spirit who has a claim on a soul. Alver is hunting for the danger to his people.
Redding High is . . .
. . . where Nina and Ashley attend school. Judy Woo is Nina’s best friend, and she likes Bernie Fine. Danny Woo is Judy’s younger brother with a skill at forging his father’s signature. Laurie is another friend. Susie. Tim Lockley is to die for. The Tank is a bully with a crew. Danny Connick is a computer nerd who thinks he’s God’s gift. Valerie and Brad broke up over her hanging out with Keith Larson. Debbie has zits in an awkward place. Beth Grant quit school to dance at Pussy’s, a strip club.
Friendly Ed sells used cars. Catherine and Vincent are characters in Beauty and the Beast. Pedro is the Hispanic storyteller. Surfer is the bicycle man’s dog. Ernie runs a coffee cart. Silenus Gardens is a popular meeting spot and was funded by Joshua Stanhold.
Mrs Christopher had been Ashley’s family’s neighbor. Peter Timmons, a.k.a. the Wiz, organized these mystical ceremonies back in the day. Other friends from those days include Wendy and Paul Drago. There is a clan totem that looks out for the whole family and the personal totem.
The Cover and Title
The cover is creamy in its sky, snow-covered pines, and the stone tower rising Rapunzel-like. At the top is the author’s name in white and shadowed with black. An info blurb is below it in white with a shallower shadow. The title takes up slightly more than half of the bottom in a deep orange-red with a black outline.
The title is too accurate, it’s The Dreaming Place where one can be lost, destroyed, or saved.
