"Long journeys alone, powerful opponents and bravery in this fantasy thriller"
October 2021 Debut of the Month
Farr is a master storyteller as evidenced by his phenomenally successful screenwriting and directing for the stage. This is evident in the confidence with which he controls all the elements in this complex, engrossing fantasy thriller – his first novel for a child audience.
Rachel and Robert live in a dictatorship in Brava that makes life very drab and humdrum – as well as very dangerous. Their father is a librarian – and on Rachel’s birthday he involves them in the theft of an important and forbidden book from the precious books room in the city library. For that theft he is captured – leaving the siblings with their ailing mother. When she dies it is planned that they will be separated into different parts of the grim orphanage that exists.
Can they escape that fate, find out the secret of the book they keep hidden and keep it out of evil dictator Malstain’s hands? Meeting a wonderful cast of characters along the way – some good, some bad – they set off on individual journeys across the land to escape Malstain’s reach.
This is a rich story, full of adventure, peril, and huge bravery from the children and many of the other characters, as well as awful evil. It will keep readers engaged and probably reading long after bedtime and lights out! Inspired by Farr’s great Aunt and Uncle’s escape from Nazi Germany this adventure is set in a timeless world that could be anywhere so that it will chime with children the world over. I hope Farr goes on to write more for children if this, his debut, is anything to go by.
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The Book of Stolen Dreams is great. I think that anyone who loves to read should definitely read this book!
The Book of Stolen Dreams is great. This book is about a girl called Rachel Klein and her older brother, Robert. When their mother passes away and their father gets sent to prison, they are in big trouble. Before their father was sent to prison, he was hiding a very valuable book, called The Book of Stolen Dreams, from an evil president called Charles Malstain. This president wants to destroy the book and now it’s Rachel and Robert’s job to hide it. I like the poems of dreams that come after a few chapters.... Read Full Review
Dramatic, full of twists and turns and a determined main character - I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to any Year 5 and 6 children!
The Book of Stolen Dreams follows a girl who has a missing brother, a father in jail and a mother who has passed away. When visiting a city, she meets a man who takes her on an airship and despite her father's warnings about not trusting strangers, she still follows through with it. This turns out to be a bad decision when she ends up being kidnapped in exchange for some money. Rachel has no choice but to try and escape, but will she?
I really enjoyed the book because it was dramatic and always referred to the past, which gives the reader more information about Rachel. This helped us understand her as a character and to understand the story more.... Read Full Review
When I was reading this book I felt like I was in the adventure with Robert and Rachel, the main characters, and I didn't want to stop reading it. This book is great for anyone who likes mysteries and suspense, and it appeals to both boys and girls. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes an adventure and a good plot.
I love books that have a mystery to them so I was excited to start reading The Book of Stolen Dreams. I wasn't disappointed as it had me gripped from the start. The story is about a boy and a girl trying to find the missing last page of a mysterious book that they are given. This gets even more tense when the children's father is captured and they have to try and save him. I love the villain in the book, Charles Malstain, as his character makes you feel scared for the children and wondering what will happen if he catches them. When I was reading the book I felt like I was in the adventure with Rachel and Robert and I didn't want to stop reading it as after one event happened, you wanted to know what was going to happen next.... Read Full Review
