Nightmares!

Segel, Jason; Miller, Kirsten

ISBN 10: 0375991573 ISBN 13: 9780375991578

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2014

Synopsis

"Coraline meets Monsters, Inc. in this delightfully entertaining offering from actor [Jason] Segel and co-author [Kirsten] Miller."—Publishers Weekly

The hilariously frightening, middle-grade novel Nightmares! is a Texas Bluebonnet nominee and the first book in a trilogy about a boy named Charlie and a group of kids who must face their fears to save their town.

Sleeping has never been so scary. And now waking up is even worse!
 
Charlie Laird has several problems.
 
1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.
2. He had to move into her purple mansion, which is NOT a place you want to find yourself after dark.
3.He can’t remember the last time sleeping wasn’t a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.
 
What Charlie doesn’t know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night’s sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world—that’s a line that should never be crossed.
 
And when your worst nightmares start to come true . . . well, that’s something only Charlie can face. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.

Praise for Nightmares!

Book one is a New York Times bestseller and Texas Bluebonnet nominee!

"Charlie Laird, who learns fear will eat you alive if you feed it, makes an impression, and...readers will want to accompany him again."—The New York Times Book Review

"A touching comical saga...about facing things that go bump in the night."—US Weekly

"“[Nightmares!] succeeds at scaring and amusing in equal measure...[It's] sweet, charming, and imaginative."—Kirkus Reviews

"Segel...and Miller build an entertaining, cartoony world full of scary (but not too scary) monsters, silly jokes, plucky kid heroes...with a promise of adventures to come."—Booklist

"An engaging and creative story...woven with a generous amount [of] humor."—VOYA

"There's humor and a fairly high ick-factor."—School Library Journal

"Cleverly crafted...This novel presents just the right mix of 'scary and humorous.'"—ILA Literacy Daily

About this title

About the Author:

Jason Segel used to have nightmares just like Charlie, and just like Charlie, he's learned that the things we're most afraid of are the things that can make us strong...if we're brave enough to face them. Jason likes acting, writing, making music, and hanging out with his friends. Sometimes he writes movies. Sometimes he writes songs for movies. Sometimes he stars in those movies and sings those songs. You might know him from The Muppets and Despicable Me. Your parents might know him from other stuff. Nightmares! is his first novel. Look for the other two books in the Nightmares! series, Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic and Nightmares! The Lost Lullaby, available from Delacorte Press.

Kirsten Miller grew up in a small town just like Cypress Creek, minus the purple mansion. She lives and writes in New York City. Kirsten is the author of the acclaimed Kiki Strike books, the New York Times bestseller The Eternal Ones, and How to Lead a Life of Crime. Nightmares! is the first novel she has written with Jason Segel. You can visit her at kirstenmillerbooks.com or follow @bankstirregular on Twitter.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 4–6—Eleven-year-old Charlie Laird is absolutely convinced that his stepmother Charlotte is a witch. She dresses funny, serves seriously strange food (kale pancakes), and runs a store called Hazel's Herbarium. Charlie's dad, little brother, and friends all like Charlotte and think Charlie's still grieving for his mom. He's also suffering from terrible nightmares, and living in Charlotte's crazy purple mansion isn't helping. The evil witch who stars in those nightmares threatens to follow the protagonist into the real world and kidnap his brother. Instead, he is tricked into the Nightmare World, peopled with monsters and madness: gorgons, goblins, crazy clowns, scary bunnies, tests filled with gibberish, and the monomaniacal President Fear (who also inhabits the real world as the truly terrifying Principal Stearns). But all is not what it seems, and some of the scariest creatures turn out to be sympathetic—or even allies. There are lessons to be learned about facing fears and uncovering the real enemy in this tale. Pals Alfie, Rocco, and Paige are interesting and fairly three-dimensional; most of the adults (with the exceptions of Fear/Stearns and Charlotte) are merely background. The fear is as much psychological as anything, and there's humor and a fairly high ick-factor, but relatively little violence. A good choice for elementary-aged scare-seekers.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

About this edition

• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0375991573
• ISBN 13: 9780375991578
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 368
• Illustrator: Kwasny Karl