If I haven’t mentioned it here already, I am a huge fan of Young Adult fiction. I find YA to be some of the most creative, imaginative, and exciting fiction being written today. Of all the genres of YA fiction, and there are many, I prefer the Fantasy/Magic/Science Fiction genre. MotherTalk sent me the first book in The Remin Chronicles series, The Dark Dreamweaver, and I was once again transported to a magical world where anything is possible with enough imagination, and with help from friends!

The Dark Dreamweaver is the story of David, who dreads going to sleep at night because every night he has the same nightmare, about a tall, grey-haired man with pitch black eyes, holding a glass wand while glitter swirls in the air and black streams pass by overhead in the sky. His parents are worried as well, because the newspaper reports that there is a world wide epidemic of bad dreams. To keep David’s mind off of it, they collect monarch butterfly eggs and observe the life cycle of the monarch together.

One day, David realizes that one of the tiny monarch caterpillars is talking to him, asking for his help! It seems that the caterpillar is actually a wizard who was cursed by the tall man from David’s nightmares, Thane. Houdin the wizard and Thane both live in the world known as Remin, which is where dreams go to transform from imagination into the realistic images we see when we dream. Dreamweavers use power that comes from a device called the Imaginator to transform the dreams, and Thane has stolen it, and is turning all the dreams into nightmares. David needs to go with Houdin back to Remin to stop Thane and get back the Imaginator.

Once in Remin, David makes friends with Houdin’s friend Kira, sea serpents Fred and Michelle, a jellyfish-like creature named Aradel, a wolf-like creature named Queenie, and Sir Heads-a-lot, who carries button sized replaceable heads that let him transform into a variety of animals. Together as a group, they travel through Remin, solving puzzles both individually and as a group. In addition, David gets a wand from Houdin and learns to perform magic spells which come in handy whenever fire, water, earth, or air can help the group get out of a tight spot. I enjoyed and appreciated the emphasis on teamwork, on sticking together and letting each person in the group use their own special skills to help the team as a whole.

There were elements of some of the puzzles that reminded me of video games, which should appeal to the 8-14 year old age group that this book is aimed at. My son Ryan pointed that out to me, that the game called the “Magical Wrestle Fight” was similar to a video game, although neither of us understood why it was called a wrestle fight when there was no actual wrestling in it!

Also, this is the first Science Fiction book that I know of that combines the science of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly into the story. David carries Houdin the caterpillar in a tiny cage hung around his neck, and as the story progresses, Houdin hangs himself from the top of the cage in the shape of a “J”, then transforms into a chrysalis, and then finally emerges as a monarch butterfly. Author Nick Ruth and his wife homeschool their son David, and raising monarch butterflies is one of their interests. In the next book in the series, “The Breezes of Inspire”, the process of symbiosis, two life forms that live together, is used in the story.

In the end, Thane is defeated because he does not have the combined power of a group of friends behind him. David is returned to his house safe and sound, and discovers that he has the power to do magic and return to Remin if he wants. His next adventure takes him to the world known as “Inspire”, which is Sir Heads-a-lot’s world, so that should be interesting! I recommend this book to children reading at around the fifth grade level and up, and if you are homeschooling and doing a unit on life cycles and/or the monarch butterfly, this would be a great addition to your classes. Can you tell how much I loved this book? I hope you look for it at the library or bookstore and check it out!

This post brought to you by Mothertalk.