Alphabet of Dreams

ALPHABET OF DREAMS: Susan Fletcher: Atheneum (2006): Young Adult: 294 pages

Children of a Persian traitor at the time of the birth of Christ, Mitra and her brother Babak struggle to survive and stay hidden from the king’s men who seek to destroy them. But Babak has a gift that is impossible to keep secret. If he sleeps with someone’s possession he has prophetic dreams about them. Mitra thinks she can keep control of how the gift is used and yet somehow use it to save them. She is wrong and when others discover his gift, their present safety and their future fate hang in the balance.

I have usually liked Susan Fletcher’s books very much. Shadow Spinner is one of my great favorites. I was really looking forward to another Young Adult book set in the Middle East. Alphabet of Dreams places interesting characters in some very interesting situations. Mitra and her brother are present at one of the greatest events in history and Susan Fletcher had interesting ideas about how ordinary people at an extraordinary event might have helped change history. However, this book is overloaded with details and descriptions and really needed an editorial work over.

SH