Reverie

Gay high school junior Kane Montgomery does not remember stealing his father’s car and crashing it into an abandoned mill in East Amity, Conn. But after paramedics pull him from a river—and with a missing person to account for and facing possible arson charges—Kane accepts the help of the frightening, charismatic psychologist Dr. Poesy in uncovering what happened. As the events leading up to the car crash begin to surface, Kane encounters reveries, dreamlike fantasy worlds conjured by East Amity’s citizens, and meets the Others, classmates with the ability to enter and manipulate the reveries. Slowly, Kane discovers his own powers within the reveries, but when the dreams prove unmanageable, threatening the balance between reality and fantasy, Kane must make difficult decisions that affect friends, family, and a new boyfriend. With a nod to Roald Dahl’s The Witches, debut author La Sala weaves compelling tension into the elaborate reveries’ richly drawn, if occasionally overwrought, worlds. Still, La Sala’s portrayal of Kane’s friendship with the Others is heartfelt, and the story’s many LGBTQ characters are prominently represented and powerfully nuanced. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Veronica Park, Corvisiero Literary Agency. (Jan.) [/em]