Dream - Barbara O'Connor - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Barbara O'Connor

NARRATOR: Suzy Jackson

GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: August 26, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A companion novel to this author’s popular middle-grade novel ‘Wish’. Set in the same world, but can be read as a standalone. The main character is more appealing this time around, and the plot is also slightly more complex. Some nice country music lyrics. The cover is slightly misleading; no dog has an active role in the story. I liked this better than ‘Wish’.

Plot Preview:

Colby, North Carolina. Idalee Lovett comes from a long line of country musicians. Not that they were famous, but they all had talent, some local success. Her Mama is fulfilling her dream at present, touring with her group for the summer in bars across the state. As the Lovett family has a huge house with rooms to rent, Idalee has to stay back in the house, with the other tenants as her main companions.

When the local radio competition announces a songwriting contest with tempting prizes, Idalee is determined to win. But she cannot write a song with her rickety old out-of-tune guitar, and the beautiful blue one she saw in the shop is too expensive. However, Idalee knows exactly how she can get enough money to purchase the guitar before her Mama returns, and she enlists her friends Odell, Howard and Charlie to help out. Are things ever that easy though?

The story comes to us in Idalee’s first-person perspective.

As this is a companion novel to ‘Wish’, the location, time period, and general atmosphere of the books are the same. Some characters from ‘Wish’ make an appearance in this story as well, but as this story primarily focusses on Idalee through her first-person narration, it can be read as a standalone. But if you *wish* to know more about Howard, Charlie, and a couple of other characters, it is better to go in publication order.

The story starts off with Idalee’s dream of winning the contest, then seems to slip off-track midway when she implements her plan of finding money for the guitar, and again makes a comeback to the competition in the final third or so. On the whole, I found this plot stronger than that in the first book, though that story also wasn’t bad.

Unlike Charlie in ‘Wish’, Idalee is a loveable protagonist, and this makes a vast difference to the reading experience. Her polite behaviour, her secret determination to make it big as a lyricist, her friendly nature, and her lack of judgement offers little readers many attributes worth emulating.

The other characters in the house are also mostly decent. There’s a greater proportion of child characters this time around, with most of them having a distinct personality. Howard and Charlie are still friends, and ‘pineapple’ (IYKYK) still has a role to play in their interactions. The adult characters aren’t so noteworthy this time around, though most weren’t bad as well. The only character whose inclusion felt a bit weird to me was the lady who worked as a pet psychic. Others might not mind such a profession, but it isn't my jam to read, especially in a children’s realistic fiction.

There are a couple of interesting non-human characters in the book, the most memorable of whom has to be Rochester the parrot. The cover might lead you to believe that the story also has a dog in a significant role. This is incorrect. The dog on the cover is Wishbone from the earlier book, and he has barely a scene. I am very disappointed because I love dogs and their inclusion always enhances a children’s novel.

Music has a significant role to play in the storyline, and as the go-to music genre of the location is ‘country music’, we see several country song lyrics in the story. A couple of these are really good.

The title has a special significance this time as well. Charlie in the first book had a wish; Idalee in this book has a dream. Charlie was determined to do whatever it takes to make her wish come true, and the same can be said of Idalee and her dream. I love how such simple, single-worded titles have so many nuances in the plot.

Yet again, the vocabulary level in the story is simple and accessible. The grammatical issues I mentioned in the other review are present this time as well, so I guess it confirms that they are just regional dialectic variances.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:

The audiobook clocks at 4 hrs 10 min. Suzy Jackson makes her return as the narrator, and she does a commendable job once again. Her beautiful Southern lilt ensures that we get a genuine feel of the place. She is amazing at expressing emotions without going overboard.

Some readers aren’t fond of songs being sung on audio. If you are one of those, you will be happy to learn that all the songs in the story are performed more like poems and not sung. I am in the counter team, so I regret that the songs had not been performed to some tune. Despite this, I’d definitely recommend the audio version. The narrator makes the book memorable.

Overall, my opinion is a bit contrary to the GR ratings. ‘Wish’ has a very high rating on GR, but I just about liked it. ‘Dream’, on the other hand, is barely above the four-star mark, but with its focus on music and its impressive little protagonist, it worked much better for me. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect read, but definitely worth a try.

Recommended to middle-graders with a knack for music and a fondness for friendship narratives.

My thanks to Macmillan Audio and Macmillan Young Listeners for providing the ALC of “Dream” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.