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Dream by Barbara O'Connor is a heartfelt and engaging story that highlights the power of friendship, perseverance, and teamwork. Idalee and her friends are relatable characters that children can easily connect with. Their journey to uncover a long-lost treasure is filled with moments of courage, cooperation, and resilience.

I especially appreciated how the story emphasized the importance of sticking together and supporting one another through challenges. Idalee and her friends modeled what true friendship should look like, making this book not only entertaining but also meaningful.

This would make a wonderful read-aloud in the classroom, sparking rich discussions about character, problem-solving, and the value of working toward a common goal.

I will be purchasing this book to add to the library for my students to read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for the ARC.

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My daughter and I absolutely cherished our time each night reading this story together. It was just darling. My daughter adored the main character.

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Country music lovers and realistic fiction lovers will thoroughly enjoy this book. While related to her other book, Wish, this is a standalone book.

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What a great companion book to Wish! I dale lives in a huge house with her wanna be country singer mama and her boarders. Idalee has glow in the dark letters on the ceiling above her bead that spell out dream! Her big dream is to write country songs that play on the radio. Characters from the book Wish become her friends along with a young boarder named Odell. The group of friends search for Idalee’s great-grandpa’s long lost treasure.. The local radio station holds a songwriting contest and Idalee wants to enter, but feels she needs a new guitar to improve her chances. Will she ever believe in herself like her friends do? Great children’s book full of hope, love, and friendship.

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The only thing bad about a book from author @barbaraoconnor is when it ends! This book, DREAM, is the companion novel to NYT Bestseller, WISH. Our favorite characters are back, but it’s 6th grader Idalee Lovett who takes center stage. Idalee dreams of being a songwriter and hearing her songs on the radio, so when she finds out about a songwriting contest, she’s all in! But writing songs and entering contests doesn’t come without its own share of doubts. “Some folks dream of fame. Some folks dream of fortune. But the best dream is to have a friend who loves you in good times or bad.” Luckily with the help of her family & friends, she gains the confidence she needs to believe in herself & dream big! In “the grand scheme of things” O’Connor hits it big with another 5 🌟 read!

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This book was so sweet! There were great themes of friendship in here. I loved seeing Charlie, Howard, and Wishbone from the previous book; it gave them a fresh look. I really liked how Idalee actually had a good relationship with her mother, which just made it so much better. And the music! I loved how much music had such a strong theme in this, and I loved the songs. This was all just so sweet and wholesome.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this book.

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The following review was written by my 12-year-old daughter. We'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the advance book!

“Dream” had a slow beginning but after you get past that it had me by the edge of my chair. (Don't fall.) And for that I would give it a 3.5 star review. It's so cool how she loves music and everyone in her family is into music whether it's writing songs, or playing an instrument. So if you like music (like me) this is your book!!! Especially if you like Country music (that is what genre of music her and her family play). It was so cool how the characters from “Wish” make several appearances, even Wishbone!! If you are a fan of “Wish” this goes well with it. “Dream” can stand alone or be read with “Wish”.

Idalee enters a song writing competition and she is clearly nervous. She thinks the songs she writes aren't that good but her friends believe in her and help her to the end. She and her friends are also trying to search the rooms in her house that have been rented out. (Which turns out to be quite difficult.) Because she has heard her great granddaddy has hidden money somewhere in the house, and she wants to buy the nice blue guitar that is at the music store. The guitar that she has can’t stay in tune no matter how hard she tries and the strings are always falling off. I loved the suspense, the mystery and everything.

I hope that you read “Dream.”

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A sweet story about a girl, her family treasure, and having the confidence to know your worth. Idalee is a heroine you root for and groan at when she makes the wrong decisions which is perfect in the middle grades book. Lots of characters to remember connections for but overall a well written story for the coming of age genre,

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This companion story to Wish will surely make its way into your heart.

I loved Idalee and the diverse cast of characters so very much. I am all ready to move to Colby, North Carolina and rent a room in Idalee's house so I can hang out with them. Plus it was fun to see Charlie, Howard, and Wishbone again.

A fabulous book that reminds us all to believe in ourselves.

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Dream is a beautiful middle-grade novel about a young girl with big dreams. Idalee lives with her mom and many other people who rent rooms in her home. Her mom is an aspiring musician and Idalee is too. She dreams of playing guitar in front of an audience with her mom's band. She hopes they'll play songs she has written. Idalee is desperate to be heard and decides to enter into a songwriting competition to have one of the songs she has written played on the radio. This book shows the power of friendship, big dreams, and creativity. Middle grade readers and beyond will absolutely love it!

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“The glory of the protagonist is always paid for by a lot of secondary characters”.

And, this book, had quite a number of secondary characters. So many that the little subplots detracted the main plot. Understandably Idalee's relationship with her mom and her ancestors are fundamental to the story.

The side characters of Odell and Mrs. Randall also make sense given the presence of former is necessary for the treasure hunt and the former for the adult presence given her mother essentially absconding. The others though? Charlie, Jackie and the other adults roles were more perfunctory and unnecessary attention spent on them. Moreover, though that the cover was misleading as thought Wishbone played more integral role. He didn't. So of the children's books I've read recently on NetGalley, this just fell short of expectations.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR), via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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This was a super cute story. There are elements of mystery (find the treasure!), self-doubt (am I good enough?), and a lovely musical component. This book has themes of friendship, resilience, and overcoming. The title is perfect for the story line.

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This is such a sweet, hopeful, and inspiring story! Idalee is a lovable and relatable character. She so wants to join her mother on tour with her country band, but instead finds herself left behind. Her fun group of friends and acquaintances help to carry her story through - including Rochester the parrot, Odell who is stranded with his dad waiting for truck parts, Harold who lives nearby, and Charlie and Wishbone from the companion book Wish. Odell, Harold and Charlie help Idalee search for the treasure that was supposedly hidden by her grandfather somewhere in the house. Sometimes our friends know us even better than we know ourselves, which is true in this story as well. Anyone who has ever had a dream will appreciate and connect with Idalee and her story. I can't wait to share this with students!

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In this follow up book to Wish, Idalee wants to enter a songwriting contest and be famous. Her mama and her band are on tour, and Idalee wants to buy this fancy blue guitar to help her sing. When she tells her friend Odell about a treasure (will it have money so she can buy the guitar) hidden in her house, he agrees to help her look while their other friends will distract the renters who live there. When they do find a bag, they look inside only to find songs her Granddaddy had written. Idalee thinks about entering one of his songs because she doesn’t think her songs are good enough. What ends up happening?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

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I devoured this story. I loved Barbara's style of writing and the way she built up the characters. It felt like you were right there along with them. I feel like this could also be a stand alone novel for someone who didn't read Wish as well. I think 4th graders and up would like this story.

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The fact that I forgot I didn’t finish it until I picked up my Kindle to read something else says a lot. It’s a decent read, but def not as endearing as Wish.

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Charlie and her wishes and Howard with his up-down walk.
Mrs. Odom’s love for all and beautiful Jackie making those Odom boys swoon.
And a new friend, Idalee, with her house full of misfits, who all together, fit in just fine.
Dream is the sweetest follow-up to Wish and will definitely get a place on my classroom shelves.

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A sweet follow up to the book Wish. Many kids will be excited for this book. It can be tread without reading Wish first. The plot is about an aspiring songwriter. Cute simple story that leaves you with a good feeling.

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