"Because there's no way on earth she's going to make it through college unless she grows some serious ovaries and turns this wreck around."

In Lisa McMann's Wake, Janie has a problem: since she was eight years old, she has been getting sucked into other people's dreams. Every time someone falls asleep around her, she ends up witnessing their dreams--and their nightmares. It happens in school, at her job, even on bus trips. Sometimes its mild and she can handle it, but sometimes Janie appears to pass out and have seizures, which can be pretty embarrassing. If this isn't enough, Janie is poor and lives with her alcoholic mother who does not seem to notice what is happening to her. Janie wants better for herself, so she works hard at school and her job.

Job? Yes. Janie works as much as she can. It's important for her to earn money for college. Plus, most of the people at the nursing home tend not to dream, but when she is drawn into the dream of one special patient, Miss Stubin, she begins to wonder if she is the only person who can see others' dreams. If other people can do this, is there a way to control it? That would certainly change Janie's life for the better.

Janie's neighbor Cabel also leads a tough life. She knows he must struggle as much as she does because they both live on the South side of town. However, when she accidentally ends up in one of his dreams, Janie finds out some painful truths about Cabel's life. Their friendship turned romance blooms and then breaks apart as Janie struggles with the dreams. Can she trust Cabel with her secret? Can he trust her with his?

Even the possibility that one person can see into another's dreams and nightmares is pretty creepy. I woke up this morning remembering my dream and thinking about what it would be like if I knew someone else had seen it too. Creepy. The sequel to Lisa McCann's Wake, Fade, is now available and the final book in the trilogy, Gone will be available in February, 2010.