The Dallergut Dream Department Store

Lee debuts with the quirky tale of a store where dreams are sold in glass bottles to customers hoping to cure their various ills while unconscious. Penny, who gets a job as a vendor despite thinking she botched the interview, learns the trade of dream selling from her wise boss, Dallergut, and her colleagues Weather, Mogberry, Speedo, Motail, and Vigo Myers. Her gentle, episodic narrative chronicles the many customers and their desires. One patron wants her crush to appear in her dreams, while another, who is dying, wants to create dreams with parting messages for their loved ones. Some customers hope for a glimpse into the future; others use dreams to cope with trauma—though they aren’t necessarily happy with the results. The stakes are low and the plot minimal, but it’s a joy to spend time in this whimsical world and the endlessly inventive ways that Lee deploys dreams and nightmares will keep readers invested. This will especially appeal to fans of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold. (July)