Wake

by Lisa McMann

Book Overview

The first book in the New York Times bestselling trilogy about Janie, who is able to slip into people's dreams, and the secrets she learns and must come to terms with as a result of her mysterious ability.

Not all dreams are sweet.

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416953574
• ISBN13: 9781416953579
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Great book

This book's description sounded interesting so I purchased it hoping for a good read. And that's just what I got. Janie is sucked literally into other people's dreams. She herself has only had 2 dreams of her own. She's inflicted with a drunk mother who doesn't care. She dreams of going to college and somehow stopping the curse she's inflicted with. The way this book is written is in time increments. It's very good, hard to put down, a definite page turner. I ate this book up in 2 hours flat. Janie will meet a boy, poor like herself who lives 2 houses away. He has secrets and horrible nightmares. During a sleepover she discovers one of her nemesis is a lesbian and hot for her best friend. Cabel has secrets, besides the unanswered questions about his horrible nightmares. He's into drugs, they say he deals, and then he shows up with a beamer. Just when Janie and Cabel are staring to make something of a relationship she finds out he spent the weekend in jail, because he was busted dealing. And he's got a new girlfriend, one of the rich girls who Janie despises. I can't imagine jumping into other peoples dreams, might be fun at first but then it would defiantly be a waking nightmare. This book is for the older teen, there is language and sexual suggestion. I found this book delightful and can't wait to read the next one.

When life is not a dream

Adolescents beware: Lisa McMann knows you. She knows your insecurities. She knows how you might look so together, yet be so screwed up. This is why Wake rang so true for me--because I remember what it was like to be 15, 16, 17. It wasn't a lovely, dreamy existence; it was somewhat akin to living in a shark tank. So I can relate to Janie's fear that she's a freak. It makes sense; she slips into other people's dreams, after all. Nasty, nasty dreams. Makes it kind of hard to look a friend in the eyes, when you've seen him beating his father to a pulp. As an adult, I can also relate to Janie's dismissal of adults. She has yet to learn that we're all just older teenagers. So when McMann skillfully adds a touch of mystery, now and then, to the actions of Janie's miserably inept mother, I love it. Funny stuff. Well-written stuff. Scary stuff. Surprisingly believable fantasy stuff. Can't wait for the next book. And I'm 60 years old. Susan O'Neill, author: Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam

Who knew a book about going to sleep could be so exciting?

What do you dream about? Falling? Flying? Monsters? Whatever you dream about, Janie knows about it. She's been there. She's seen you trying to run. She's seen you in your underwear in front of your classroom. At sleepovers, she sees popular Melinda dream about kissing Janie's best friend Carrie. Carrie is forever dreaming about trying to save a little boy from drowning. Driving down Waverly Street one night, Janie falls into a dream of a man with knife hands setting a boy on fire. At the Heather Nursing Home where she works, Janie sees a soldier dream of war and a woman dream of having one last night of passion with the man she loved. Janie knows what everyone else dreams about, but she never has dreams of her own. Her ability to enter people's dreams wasn't so bad when she was younger, but in high school a lot more people sleep in class. A lot more people have nightmares that Janie can't avoid. People like Cabel Strumheller, former bad boy, suspected drug dealer, total hottie. And the owner of the nightmare Janie entered on Waverly Street. With Cabel's dream, Janie finds that she's not just a watcher of people's dreams, she's a participant. And she's determined to help Cabel through his nightmare. That, however, isn't so easy to do when Carrie tells Janie that Cabel is hooking up with another girl and dealing drugs. Janie finds an unexpected ally in a resident of the Heather Home who leaves a note for Janie after her death. The note ends: P.S. You have more power than you think. Janie knows she can't go on forever falling into people's dreams. She'll never be able to have a college roommate, and she'll never be able to sleep with or even live with someone else. What she does know is that she must embrace her powers and help Cabel through his nightmares. If it doesn't kill her first. Enter dreams. Find the answers. Help those who can't help themselves. Lose yourself in a spooky, breathless world of secrets and deceit. This is a book about dreams that will keep you awake all night. --- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

How are you sleeping?

Janie Hannagan, 8 years old, has no idea what is happening to her. A man, balding, standing in the middle of a conference room, in underwear alone, his coworkers laughing, the shame. Then she is snapped back to reality, the ratty clothing, her drunken mother; she is left nauseous and confused. That is the beginning of a long struggle that Janie will have to suffer through. Dreams are not hers alone, she sees what other people are dreaming...or better yet she is part of the dream. Everyone calls out for help, but what can she do? Her voice does not make a sound so she is forced to watch the untimely events unfold before her. It's no secret that Janie had a constantly drunk mother, lived in the "white trash" part of South Fieldridge, and had dirty clothes and no friends. One day new neighbors moved in, with them a daughter, Carrie, about the same age as Janie. The girls became quick friends even though Carrie's other friends did not like Janie. Carrie was plagued with dreams of a drowning boy, getting eaten by a shark, when Janie first was drawn inside of that dream she was speechless. Why had her best friend never mentioned this Carson kid? Cabel Strumheller is the boy that looks strung out on drugs in his early high school days, the loner, no friends and very unapproachable. He is from the same part of town as Janie. He has horrible dreams, dreams that makes Janie more scared now than she has ever been. A man with knives for fingers that looks scary enough be Freddy Krueger's brother; a man in a fit of rage setting Cabel on fire. Janie can only stare at the horror before her. She and Cabel have a connection...one that will pull them together; they need each other. Janie's secret as she calls it is only shared with Cabel after many years of the pain. He learns how to communicate with her in dreams. But it is truly the woman from the nursing home that teaches Janie that her dreams belong to her, and if she finds herself in someone's dream she has the power to change things...to better things. Still there are secrets, how did Cabel get such nice clothes and transform himself over the summer...let alone drive a Beemer? He has a few secrets of his own. Lisa McMann's novel Wake is an addictive read. I was really impressed with Wake, it kept me turning the pages way into the morning, like it was stuck to my hand, and I could not put it down. I was curious to see what would happen with the characters, and am still kind of left wondering what happens to Janie's mother. Ms. McMann is a master story teller, she has me hooked. From now on all of her other works will be on my book shelf. 5 Hearts

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Dreams can usually be categorized as our source of entertainment while we are sleeping. Although we sometimes may not remember them, they often take us on a journey that we may (or may not) want to happen. For Janie Hannagan, though, dreams are her worst nightmares. Not like any other normal teenage girl, Janie witnesses the dreams that anyone within close proximity is dreaming. Of course, she doesn't really want this to happen, but it has been going on ever since she was eight. Janie is able to see the ordinary dreams, from falling to drowning to going to work without wearing any pants. Along with that, she is able to see people's secrets and what they desire the most. There is nothing Janie can do about this but to just keep the knowledge to herself. That all changes when Cable, the guy who everyone thought was a pothead and a dealer, enters her life as she enters his dreams. Half the time, the dreams are somewhat sweet and romantic, but then other times she witnesses the nightmares that have been haunting him. As Janie tries to sort out not only his dreams but her own feelings for Cable, she learns that the only way to survive her reactions towards other people's dreams is to control them -- and to help the people complete the tasks that they so desperately want to accomplish. Every now and then a novel gets published and becomes a work of art that we all will long remember. WAKE is one of those novels that is not only unique but also mesmerizing and exhilarating. With her debut novel, Lisa McMann creates something that will be on our minds and change the way we think about what we read. Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen