Barbara O'Connor takes readers from a Wish to a Dream in this sweet middle grade novel. This new book revisits the same southern town but centers on a young girls who dreams of being a famous country music song writer. Idalee Lovett lives in a ramshackle rooming house filled with quirky characters. The youngster wants to enter a songwriting contest, but doubts her own talent. she is convinced that she needs a new guitar to write a good song, and teams up with her buddies to search for the rumored treasure her Grandpa had supposedly hidden in the house. Fans of the 2016 "Wish" will enjoy revisiting the characters of Charlie, Howard and Wishbone who help her out, along with her new friend Odell. In the end of this sweet story, Idalee discovers that the true treasures are self-confidence and friendship.


This Dream is a companion story to Wish, not a sequel, and can be read as a standalone. The protagonist is only eleven and this middle grade novel is not as serious as many middle grade novels these days. It is appropriate for any youngster. I alternated between advanced copies of the audiobook and the eBook and adored the narration. I had actually requested the audiobook because I fell in love with Suzy Jackson's excellent narration in Christina Dodd's Thus with a Kiss I Die: Daughter of Montague. In this novel she captures the voice of a southern preteen so well, I had forgotten that it was the same actress. No matter what format you enjoy the most, this is a good book, but as a reader who usually prefers text, I can claim that anything narrated by Jackson really is even "better as an audiobook".

If Barbara O'Connor is writing a book with kids and dogs in it -- sign me up. This companion to the hit Wish is a delightful return to the town of Colby, North Carolina.

Idalee Lovett lives just down the mountain from Charlie and Wishbone. Her big old house is full of quirky characters who rent a room from Mama Lovett.

Why should you read this book?

🎸Idalee is determined to write the winning song in her age group and hear her song on the radio. Does she need a new guitar to write a better song?
🐶Wishbone and Charlie are back from the companion book "Wish." Charlie is still living with her relatives and is learning to regulate her anger. For Charlie "pineapple" is the safe word to help her down.
⛪The Lovetts are making the most of their resources. While Mama is trying to go on tour with her band The Junkyard Dogs, they rent out her room in addition to others.
😎Barbara O'Connor does such a great job of bringing the characters to life. I can see Sterling Gillis lifting that cinder block to improve his shopping cart record, for example. There is also a parrot named Roshester and an orange snake named Jake in the house. Shhh. No one is supposed to know about the snake.
🎶Idalee is inspired by the word "Dream" on her ceiling and writes a song with the same name. Here are a few lines:

Some folks dream of fame.
Some folks dream of fortune.
I dream of red dirt roads and Mama's pies,
A faithful dog sitting by my side.

Sound like a dream come true? You can read about Idalee for yourself when this book goes on sale on August 26, 2025. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC and to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, many thanks to Sarah at @MacMillan.Audio and @NetGalley for providing me with the audiobook of Dream by Barbara O’Connor @barbaraoconnor.
I thoroughly enjoyed Dream, a heartfelt follow-up to O’Connor’s, Wish. Both books beautifully explore themes of friendship, found families, and self-discovery. Idalee, the central character, is wonderfully relatable—brimming with talent but struggling with self-confidence in her songwriting. She believes that a brand-new blue guitar might be the key to unlocking her potential. Meanwhile, familiar faces Charlie and Howard and Wishbone (from Wish) return to support and encourage her, including nudging her to enter a radio contest with her songs.
What I especially appreciated about Dream:
❤️The continuation of genuine friendships and kindness established in the first book.
❤️The children’s collaborative yet challenging project that leads to the Master Plan.
❤️The presence of supportive adults who foster growth and encouragement.
❤️A warm and authentic depiction of a found family built on love and understanding.


If you enjoy stories centered around found families, resilience, and kindness, Dream is a wonderful ❤️❤️❤️❤️ read that will stay with you.

I listened to the audio on both Wish and Dream. Suzy Jackson does an excellent job. I have listened to other stories she narrates and she brings all the feels behind the authors words in a wonderful way!
Dream was everything I was hoping for and more. When I first started with it I was wondering how it would relate to Wish. There is a new main character and I was worried who and how much we would see the characters from Wish. The tie ins were so perfect! We got to revisit some of the main characters from Wish and even see a bit of a different side of them. The story was beautiful, hopeful, encouraging and just so wonderful! O'Connor has a way of filling pages with emotion that keeps you coming back until the story is over. I hope one day to see a companion story about one of the other friends in Wish and Dream.
I have talked to multiple kids who love Wish and I know that they will be equally pleased with Dream. Dream is unique in its story and different from Wish just like Idalee is her own unique self from Charlie. But both Dream and Wish bring this beautiful magic of a story with all the feels life can bring like disappointments, struggles, joy, friendship and many more ups and downs this world throws at us.

This is a sweet story. I had not read the first book, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of this one.
Our sweet main character has a bit of a rough home life, but it allows her to have this beautiful found family surrounding her. She’s the daughter of a musician and also writes her own music. There is a contest on the radio for songwriters and our girl wants to enter, but isn’t sure she’s good enough.
This is.a sweet quick read!!

This is a sweet coming of age story that loves country music songwriting. Young readers who are interested in that will cheer on our likable protagonist and the wacky cast of characters who rally around to support her unconventional path to growing up and finding her voice.

This was a cute book for young readers. I really enjoyed Wish. So I was excited to see a second book was publishing. It was fun to see Charlie make an appearance in this one. Though this was a sweet story, I struggled to connect to the characters. I also found my mind wandering while listening to the audiobook. I think it was more of a me issue, but I thought the audiobook narration was good!

Idalee is a sweet character. I think a lot of young readers will find her relatable. I loved the message about the importance of perseverance and following your dreams! This book was full of lots of wonderful quirky characters! I’ve come to expect that from Barbara O’Connor!

If you are looking for a quick, sweet read full of big dreams and cute characters, then I recommend checking out this audiobook!

3.5⭐️

Dream follows the story of Idalee Lovett. Idalee's mom is an aspiring country singer who rents rooms in a house full of a cast of quirky characters. When her mom goes on tour with her band over the summer, she rents out a room to Jackie (Charlie's older sister) and leaves the house under the care of Mrs. Randall, a teacher at Idalee's school. Idalee also has big dreams of her own and decides she wants to enter and win a song-writing contest from the local radio station. She believes she can become a great songwriter if she gets the shiny blue guitar found in an Asheville music shop, and to do that, she's determined to find the long-lost treasure her late granddad hid in the house. She enlists a group of friends and other quirky characters in the hopes of fulfilling her songwriting dreams.

I adored Wish, and was very excited to read Dream! I thought this book was cute and had great characters, friendship, and funny moments. I loved seeing Charlie and Howard from book one, and following this cast of characters' adventures. But overall, it just wasn't quite as charming as Wish, and fell a bit flat for me. I wasn't as attached to the characters or storyline, and was missing some of the character development and messages I loved from Wish. I found the beginning to be a bit slow, and not grab my attention as much, and parts of the story felt a tad unrealistic. I didn't care for the mention of a pet fortune teller aspect of the story, or the mention of tarot cards. I still thought it was a sweet story, and I loved the audiobook narrated by Suzy Jackson; she brings any story to life.

I think readers who loved Wish will enjoy this story and revisiting some of the characters! I think my expectations were a bit high going into this book, which may be why it fell a bit short for me.

Thank you, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review; all thoughts are 100% my own.

Content to consider: No language, lying, mention of a pet fortune teller, mention of tarot cards, mention of an aura

Dream by Barbara O'Connor
3.5 Stars rounding up to 4

I loved Wish by Barbara last year and was so excited to see the Dream audiobook available on NetGalley! Suzy Jackson does such a great job narrating. As a southern Tennessee gal, I love her accents for the characters and it feels like home.
As a follow up to Wish, Dream follows Idalee Lovett, who lives in the small town of Colby, North Carolina. Idalee's Mama is going on your for the summer with her cover band and Idalee works on her songwriting skills. There is a local radio songwriting contest and Idalee is determined to win with her songs. Idalee needs a new guitar and there is supposedly long-lost treasure for her and her friends to find hidden somewhere in their house from her late grandfather... the friends spend their time helping Idalee trying to find it, while sneaking around.

We see Howard, Charlie and Wishbone from Wish helping out in this book - loved seeing them again. You can technically read this outside of reading Wish, but I think you best enjoy it after reading Wish.

I liked this one in general. We have quirky characters who rent out rooms in the house, great friendships, a sweet dog and a sweet ending. Wish is still my favorite, but this was a good companion.

However, while I enjoyed the book, I wasn't a fan of a side character portrayed as a pet fortune teller/psychic with orange "aura". She acts kind of weird around pets pretending to be a pet fortune teller and the kiddos talk about her being convincing and think she really may be one. There is also a brief mention of tarot cards and general fortune tellers. It wasn't anything overboard, brief mentions, but I didn't love those parts. I also wish we had a bit more of Wishbone in the story as the cover indicates.

Loved her song and the ending, so very sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a complimentary copy of the audiobook to honestly read and review. All thoughts are my own.

Dream
by Barbara O'Connor
A story that shows southern culture and country inspiration. A young girl has a dream to go in a song writing contest, with prizes. The book shows the connections and adventures in a small southern town. The young girl uses her knowledge of song writing, and music to create something special.

Great narration!

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.

Suzy Jackson does a wonderful job capturing the voice of the main character as well as the many side characters in this companion story to the much beloved, Wish.
This does have some of the characters from Wish but it did not capture my heart in the same way. I also did not like the idea of a mom leaving her daughter to follow her dreams..
Though it was not a favorite, it is an entertaining listen if you need a quick, middle grade read with lots of quirky characters.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for this advanced audio book.

We LOVED Wish so we've been eagerly anticipating this sequel. It was so fun to reunite with old character friends in Colby, NC. The narrator was excellent and the cast of misfits was so fun.

We didn't love this quite as much as the first because the pacing felt a little far fetched and there were just too many characters to keep up with but this was still a super fun read.

I'd recommend for ages 10+ and to read with an adult because there are some sensitive topics addressed.

Trigger warnings: parental abandonment, neglect