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Summer Of Sarah Dessen : Dreamland

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  • Release Date : September 1 2000
  • Publisher : Viking Children’s/Penguin
  • Genre : Contemporary
  • Pages : 256

Synopsis: Ever since she started going out with Rogerson Biscoe, Caitlin seems to have fallen into a semiconscious dreamland where nothing is quite real. Rogerson is different from anyone Caitlin has ever known. He’s magnetic. He’s compelling. He’s dangerous. Being with him makes Caitlin forget about everything else-her missing sister, her withdrawn mother, her lackluster life. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a larger problem than being without him.

Cassandra “Cass” O’Koren was the perfect high school student; she was homecoming queen, a star soccer player and Yale bound in the fall. That is until she decides to runawway to New York City with her boyfriend; leaving her friends and family behind.

Dreamland isn’t Cass’ story though; It is the story of her younger sister Caitlin.

After Cass’s hasty departure, her little sister Caitlin is  left to pick up the pieces. Her attempts at finding life after Cass come tumbling down the night she meet Rogerson Biscoe. He’s a dark brooding drug-dealer whose life is constantly in motion and Caitlin wants nothing more than to be in motion with him. Caitlin entwines her life in his moving  farther away from the person everyone wants her to be.

Dreamland takes a hard look at physical  abuse, relationship abuse and it digs in a lot deeper with teen issues thanSomone Like Youdoes. We get to experince Caitlin’s thoughts, feelings and fears in a deeply intimate and uncliched narration.

What really stands out about this novel is that character of Cass and is one of the reasons I started the review with her. You see, Cass is never actually present in the novel yet she plays such a big part in the readers mind. She becomes the catalyst for the events in the novel and the spirit of her is used as a reason for hope in each of the characters minds.

Through careful plotting and an introspective first person the reader can feel the emotional descent Caitlin takes from the girl next door to the girl crying for help. The friendships and relationships Caitlin forms throughout the novel come full circle and characters become dimensional.

Connections

Lakeview, NC

Like That Summer and Someone Like You this novel also takes place in Lakeview.

Jolly Ranchers

Much like Macon in Someone Like You a character in this novel seems to have a fondness for Jolly Ranchers.

The Arbors 

The luxury housing development where Ginny lives in from Someone Like You is home to Rogerson Biscoe

What is the Summer of Sarah Dessen ?