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Dormia

Jake Halpern, Peter Kujawinski

Twelve-year-old Alfonso Perplexon is a sleepwalker. He climbs extremely high trees, skis, and performs other physical feats—all in his sleep. The appearance of his long-lost Uncle Hill leads to an explanation for Alfonso's unusual habit. They are from the hidden land of Dormia, whose inhabitants have perfected wakeful sleeping, performing complex tasks while deep in slumber. Hill reveals that the unusual plant Alfonso has nurtured in his sleep is a Dormian bloom, needed to save the last city of Dormia, and Alfonso and Hill travel to the Ural Mountains to take it home. Of course, they don't know exactly where Dormia is, and they find themselves traveling with unlikely—and perhaps untrustworthy—companions. While the complex setup starts out slowly, the action picks up rapidly once Hill and Alfonso reach Europe and find dangers aplenty, leading up to a battle for Dormia's future. Alfonso finds out about his own background and abilities as he travels, and readers learn about Dormia along with the likable young hero. The authors provide a wealth of detail, bringing locales as exotic as a cave city and a decaying icebreaker ship to life, though action often waits for the settings to be explored. Double-crosses and disguises add to the suspense as Alfonso nears Dormia, and readers will be left hoping for their own sleeping adventures.

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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