The Dream Merchant (Works in Translation) - Hardcover

Hoving, Isabel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763628808 ISBN 13: 9780763628802

Publisher: Candlewick, 2005

Synopsis

Winner of the Netherlands' most prestigious children's book award, this epic adventure quest draws readers deep into a collective dream world — and sweeps them along on a riveting journey through a reimagined past.

"They're going to send you on a sales trip and it'll be the death of you — I know what's going on at Gippart. You're their guinea pig."

Josh Cope is a bit of a dreamer . . . who sometimes steals things. Otherwise, he's just your average boy. So why is an international corporation calling him in the middle of the night, insisting that he come and work for them? Why would they be so convinced that Josh is the key to conquering their new market — the past? Drawn into this astonishing, whirlwind adventure, Josh soon finds himself in the middle of a nightmare, caught in a place between dreams and reality. For Josh and his friends to find their way back, they must follow a trail that takes them right into the very heart of the human imagination — and to the furthest ends of time itself.

About this title

About the Author

ISABEL HOVING was born in Amsterdam. She began her career as a secondary-school teacher, during which time she became very active in the Dutch women's movement. She eventually gave up her job to study literary theory full-time and spent some months in Senegal, West Africa, for a research project — an experience that gave her a completely different perspective on the world and that she describes as a turning point in her life. Now a lecturer at Leiden University, Isabel Hoving lives with her partner and son in Amsterdam.


HESTER VELMANS has translated a number of novels from Dutch into English, including THE LILY THEATER by Lulu Wand and Renate Dorrestein's A HEART OF STONE, which won the Vondel Prize for Dutch Translation. In addition, she has contributed to her parents' wartime memoirs - EDITH'S STORY by Edith Velmans and LONG WAY BACK TO THE RIVER KWAI by Loet Velmans — and has written a children's novel, ISABEL OF THE WHALES.

Reviews

Grade 8 Up–Josh Cope, a dreamy, gadget-obsessed 12-year-old, is chosen, with friend Baz, to work at an old company called Gippart. The boys are teamed up with Theresa, and the three enter its trading zone, called umaya. Umaya is the collective unconscious of humankind, and Gippart has discovered the secret of physically entering it and selling fantastic goods and concepts. The three young people are soon trapped in there, which starts a multilevel, action-crammed plot. They are hunted by a ghost-made-flesh and her accompanying guardian angel. Two Gippart employees who also want to use them for personal gain track them. Josh and friends are stuck in a repeating pattern so that whenever they fall asleep, they travel backwards in umaya time. They realize their actual goal: to right an ancient wrong committed by company founders. This is a lengthy tale with an extremely complicated setup. Readers who commit themselves to it will be well rewarded; the intricate plot is deep and gratifying. Despite the sprawling, fast-paced action, it's a personal story; nightmarish monsters plague the heroes, and each one must make a momentous decision or slay a private demon before returning home. This novel speaks to the art of storytelling, the conflict-filled history of the world, and the nature of greed and selfishness. While the ideas translate beautifully from the Dutch, dialogue is occasionally stilted. This book may require some hand-selling, but it's worth the effort.–Sarah Couri, New York Public Library
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Gadgets. It was all because he loved gadgets. When he looked back later on, Josh decided that was how it had started. Which wasn't far wrong: if he hadn't been so intrigued, Josh would have slammed the door in their faces right from the start, and the probably nothing would have happened. Why did they have to pick on him, of all people, to be the hero of their lousy adventures? He was just an ordinary boy — expect for four things.

Four things. First, he was a collector, and quite a good one. He knew exactly how to organize all his stuff so he could find things easily, and so his parents didn't want to dump it all in the dustbin every few months. Mostly he collected useful things, like solar torches that also worked as a compass, whistle and penknife; but he also had shelves piled high with rusty bits of metal, skulls and skeletons, bunches of locks, picklocks and keys, computer games that no longer worked, and all sorts of tools and electrical devices. Second, he could fall asleep wherever and whenever he wanted. Third, he could always remember his dreams. Which could be a pain, especially when it was a nightmare, and then he'd go around all day with a sinking feeling there was something after him. And fourth: he was a thief.

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DREAM MERCHANT by Isabel Hoving. Translated by Hester Velmans. Copyright (c) 2005 by Isabel Hoving. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0763628808
• ISBN 13: 9780763628802
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 640