Alphabet of Dreams

Susan Fletcher seems to be a master at writing quality children's books. When I say quality, I mean her work is beautifully written and, while appealing to the young audience she writes for, it can also inspire and make them think deeper about the world around them. "Alphabet of Dreams" is the story of Mitra, a displaced Persian noble of about 13 or 14, and her younger brother Babak. As the story begins, Mitra (who poses as "Ramin," a boy) and Babak live hand-to-mouth and Mitra longs for her family, supposedly in far-off Palmyra, and the genteel life she used to know. When by chance Babak's talent for prophetic dreams comes to life, Mitra uses his ability to help them gain money for food. But the talent proves treacherous when Babak and Mitra are forced to accompany a caravan of scholars on an enigmatic journey across the desert, while the king's spies try to track them down. While Babak is the "dreamer" in the family, Mitra is the one with grandiose longings and an inability to accept the truth of their situation. Most of her actions are spurred by her desire to go to Palmyra to find the rest of their family, and she eventually learns the meaning of home and true, attainable dreams. In fact dreams are really what drive this book. Most of the main characters have some dream that drives them, whether it's to find a family, move beyond their station in life, or - subtly interwoven in the story's fabric - to find the Christ child. You suspect early on that this is a retelling of the story of the Magi, but Fletcher lets you piece it together on your own. She does a great job of sticking to the Biblical and historical record, as well. There were several times when I would refer to the Biblical story in Matthew, thinking that what I had read in "Alphabet of Dreams" wasn't right. But it was - Fletcher did a very good job in challenging this reader's preconceived notions of the Magi story. Historical notes at the end are also a nice touch for readers who might be interested in learning more. Overall, a beautiful book, and one that stays with you after you've read it.

I am the type of reader who can't settle for just a good story or just good writing or just good characters. I have to have it all to truly lose myself in a book. With this book, I lost myself in the language first, loving the sentences and the voice of Mitra. Then I fell in love with Mitra and Babak, and then I grew to appreciate and love the secondary characters because they felt real, their motives complex and the changes that happen to them believable and wonderful. Then the story swept me up completely, and I loved how simple things like the coming of Mitra's "monthly courses" bring a tension that Mitra herself doesn't understand until they happen. I checked this out from the library and can hardly wait to buy my own copy.

This story pulled me in deep and wouldn't let go. It got richer and thicker as it went along. The best of it to me was the love story at the heart of the book. The main character, Mitra, goes around as a boy for safety reasons. Then a boy meets her and instantly knows she is a girl, even though no one else has seen through her disguise. And he loves her. This idea, that someone who loves you is someone who can see you, and how good it is to be seen, are beautifully and convincingly rendered.

What an original take on an old, old story! I literally could not put it down, until the end! Even then, I devoured her explanatory notes afterwards. This is a topic I teach frequently, and while I may differ on some minor points, the author has done an outstanding job of fictionalizing characters we wonder about so often. This book is so powerful, that I doubt another Christmas in my life will ever transpire without my looking at the creche and considering Melchior's pride, that tiny scrap of linen in the boot, etc. Well done!

Blurbs and book descriptions can be great. If you see, for example, an enticing cover in the bookstore, blurbs have the power to make or break your potential purchase. If the description sounds remarkable, the blurb is the book's friend. If the description sounds deathly deadly dull, the blurb and book are foes. But you see, I don't read blurbs. I like books to surprise me. To have stories and plots that jump out of nowhere and throttle my attention soundly. In short, I like to know as little about a book as possible before I read it. And since my focus in life is to concentrate wholeheartedly on children's books, blurbs are avoided at all times at all costs. Good thing too. Had I known the plot of "Alphabet of Dreams" beyond the initial premise I might have labeled this book too soon. As it was, my slow realization of what this story was about liberated me to feel especially proud of myself and proud of author Susan Fletcher for so skillfully drawing out the story's elegant elements. If you're anything like me and you'd like to unravel the mystery behind "Alphabet of Dreams" on your own, stop reading this review and know only this: Excellent book. Excellent plot. Excellent characters. A classy affair through and through. Nuff said. First sentence: "When we lived in the City of the Dead, my brother dreamed mostly of food". Little wonder. Mitra and her little brother Babak are displaced members of a Persian royal family. Due to their father's failed plot to overthrow King Phraates, the two have been separated from the rest of their family and live as beggers in the city of Rhagae. That is, until fourteen-year-old Mitra (dressed as a boy and going by the name of Ramin) discovers that Babak has a dangerous gift. Simply place an article of clothing under his sleeping head and in the morning he'll dream a portentous dream for the owner of that material. Always on the lookout for a way to return to the life she once knew, Mitra uses Babak's power to restore them to the city of Palmyra, where she hopes to find their kin. Unfortunately, knowledge of this dreamer reaches the ears of the powerful everywhere. Now Babak and Mitra are in the possession of a magus with dreams of power. And as the boy's dreams concern a birth, stars, and a king, it becomes clear that there is something at work far greater than either child could fathom. Something so great that it may kill Babak to dream of it. At what point did my slow moving brain realize that this story was concerned with the three Magi? You see, that's the caravan that Mitra and Babak eventually end up with. Somehow I could have caught on right from the start if I'd looked more closely at the map at the beginning of the book. Yup. There's Bethlehem clear as clear can be. But somehow I missed both that clue and the moment when the first Magus (clue #2, I suppose) was introduced as Melchior. It really wasn't until Babak had a dream about a Jewish king with sores that I began to get clued in. Then when they m