Keith Robinson (1)

Sleep Writer by Keith Robinson is a delightful young adult read that smashes fantasy and science fiction into an engaging book.

Can you imagine being a pre-teen in a small town living your boring life doing middle school like things and suddenly an attractive fifteen year old girl moves next door? Life suddenly changes! But, what if she asks you where the nearest graveyard is? Kinda weird, right? But what if things get weirder? What if you join her along to the nearest graveyard in the middle of the night (normal pre-teen and teenaged behaviour, obviously), and she tells you that she leaves herself written messages when she sleeps and that they lead her to... aliens? Yeah, summer just got interesting.

Liam, Madison, and Ant become a trio trying to save the world from aliens when they accidentally get caught by said aliens spying on them... And the adventure is one wild ride!

I seriously loved this book! It's fast paced, full of twists and turns that don't leave you hanging, and is totally bingeable. I managed to read the whole thing in one sitting because I just needed to know how my new buddies were going to turn out. This book might be for middle graders and young adult readers but it also can really get an adult reader attached. It works all around for the ages because of the prose Keith Robinson has chosen. We can all remember being a pre-teen and wanting to go on fun adventures, and this book lets us join the gang for the fun of theirs.

And to top it off, this is the first in the series! So we are getting more! I hope we find out more about how Madison got her odd superpowers, and that we get to see Liam and Ant join her on their wild adventures. This is a must read book that will make you fall in love with reading all over again. And this is coming from a reader who typically avoids science fiction! This is the kind of sci-fi anyone can enjoy.

Five out of five stars.

I received this book for free from the author, Keith Robinson, in exchange for an honest review.… (mehr)

Note: I highly recommend reading Book 1 (Island of Fog) before reading this book.

Our hero kids (Hal, Robbie, Abigail, Darcy, Dewey, Emily, Fenton, and Lauren) from Book 1 continue on with new adventures in this tale. As they settle into their new homes and town in Miss Simone’s world, they also learn more about their abilities. Each will face challenges. There’s child-stealing harpies and dragons with a taste for human flesh. These shape-shifting kids will rise to the occasion!

Not all of the villagers are happy to have yet more shape shifters in their mist. The kids have to deal with some bullying and town politics. The centaurs want the humans to stop mining all together, but the mined ore provides energy for the human homes, making their lives easier. Miss Simone talks all the parties into allowing Dewey (who can shift into Centaur form) to be the one to decide after he has investigated the matter. This is the start of the missions the kids will be sent on to negotiate with the magical creatures and humans alike.

Our heroes are all around 12 going on 13 and love’s first blush is in the air. It was rather cute to see that in the midst of all the deadly serious events of the book. In Book 1, they really were just kids with school, play time, a few chores, etc. But in this book they are coming of age and adults are looking to them to make major decisions or take on actions that will affect many. The kids didn’t always do the exact right thing, but they all rose to the challenge. I was especially proud of how the harpies were handled. Totally did not see that coming! And it was harsh! That made the whole scene so much more powerful.

The whole book had a faster pace and more adventures than Book 1. I definitely enjoyed it more. We get to meet some of the first generation of shape shifters and through Dewey, we learn more about how the shape shifters were made. The dragons and their society were interesting to learn about. Plus there are these holes between the destroyed, polluted Earth and Miss Simone’s magical world that we learn more about. Fairies, wood nymphs, ogres, lizards of various types, and of course, a manticore! There was never a dull moment in this tale.

I received this book free of charge from the narrator in exchange for an honest review.

The Narration: Fred Wolinsky did a great job with the narration, keeping all the kid’s voices and the beasty voices distinct. When one of the kids shifts, Wolinsky somehow manages to make the shifter version sound very similar to their human voice, which was great. He even did a few little touches like making certain conversations sound a bit different to indicate it was mindspeak and such.… (mehr)