Volume 1 Number 17
October 6, 1995

image Dreamers.

Mary-Ellen Lang Collura.
Vancouver: Greystone, 1995. 144pp, paper, $7.95.
ISBN 1-55054-162-5.

Grades 10 - 12 / Ages 14 - 18.
Review by Elaine Seepish.

This weak story of the rivalry between members of a garage band for the affections of Sally, the new girl in town, limps along to a maudlin climax in which the narrator, Sam, finally wins Sally over.

The teen reader, however, will not be won over by the language of Dreamers, which isn't close to being realistic for the age group depicted. On one occasion, for example, the seventeen-year-old Sam pauses to reflect that ``the rigours and rewards of adulthood were looming in the foreseeable future, and most of us wanted to be ready!" Puh-leeze!

Collura also skips over opportunities to develop her major characters and overloads a slim story with many minor, albeit interesting, characters who go nowhere.

It's too bad that the cover portrait of Sam is so androgenous, because the author's best moments are in describing the passion of the all-male band members for their music. This might have grabbed the attention of some young male readers had the cover been different.

Possibly appealing as a quick, light read, but I would say a marginal purchase for senior students.

Not recommended.

Elaine Seepish is Information Specialist at Instructional Resources Unit, Manitoba Education and Training.

Copyright © 1995 the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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