Nightmares! (Nightmares! #1)

by Jason Segel (Author) Karl Kwasny (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: Nightmares!

The hilariously frightening, middle-grade novel Nightmares! is a Texas Bluebonnet nominee and the first book in a trilogy about a boy named Charlie and a group of kids who must face their fears to save their town. Charlie Laird has several problems.

1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.

2. He had to move into her purple mansion--the creepiest place in Cypress Creek.

3. He can't remember the last time sleeping wasn't a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.

What Charlie doesn't know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night's sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world . . . well, that's something only Charlie can face.

And he's going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.

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Kirkus

Sweet, charming and imaginative: a promising launch.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6—Eleven-year-old Charlie Laird is absolutely convinced that his stepmother Charlotte is a witch. She dresses funny, serves seriously strange food (kale pancakes), and runs a store called Hazel's Herbarium. Charlie's dad, little brother, and friends all like Charlotte and think Charlie's still grieving for his mom. He's also suffering from terrible nightmares, and living in Charlotte's crazy purple mansion isn't helping. The evil witch who stars in those nightmares threatens to follow the protagonist into the real world and kidnap his brother. Instead, he is tricked into the Nightmare World, peopled with monsters and madness: gorgons, goblins, crazy clowns, scary bunnies, tests filled with gibberish, and the monomaniacal President Fear (who also inhabits the real world as the truly terrifying Principal Stearns). But all is not what it seems, and some of the scariest creatures turn out to be sympathetic—or even allies. There are lessons to be learned about facing fears and uncovering the real enemy in this tale. Pals Alfie, Rocco, and Paige are interesting and fairly three-dimensional; most of the adults (with the exceptions of Fear/Stearns and Charlotte) are merely background. The fear is as much psychological as anything, and there's humor and a fairly high ick-factor, but relatively little violence. A good choice for elementary-aged scare-seekers.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Coraline meets Monsters, Inc. in this delightfully entertaining offering from actor Segel and co-author Miller (How to Lead a Life of Crime), first in a trilogy. Twelve-year-old Charlie Laird believes his new stepmother is a witch, in part due to his horrible nightmares about being held captive by witches. Charlie soon learns that the witches' Netherworld is real, and his fear has opened a portal allowing creatures to travel between realms. When Charlie ventures into the Netherworld to rescue his kidnapped younger brother, he becomes embroiled in an epic struggle to prevent the terrifying President Fear from turning the mortal world into a place of eternal nightmares. In a story that's both whimsical and disturbing, Charlie works to rescue his friends, help them overcome their fears, and find his courage. Segel and Miller make for a solid team; their Netherworld is populated by everything from talking bugs to killer clowns, and the underlying message—sometimes you have to admit to and confront your fears—is important. Kwasny's illustrations provide a fitting mixture of realism and absurdity. Ages 8-12. Agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor and Abrams Entertainment. (Sept.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Praise for the Nightmares! Series: 

"Charlie Laird, who learns fear will eat you alive if you feed it, makes an impression, and...readers will want to accompany him again."—The New York Times Book Review

"A touching comical saga...about facing things that go bump in the night."—US Weekly

"Coraline meets Monsters, Inc. in this delightfully entertaining offering from actor [Jason] Segel and co-author [Kirsten] Miller."—Publishers Weekly

"Comical antics, cartoonish spot illustrations, and creepy villains make for quite an entertaining read."—Booklist

"Succeeds at scaring and amusing in equal measure . . . Sweet, charming, and imaginative."—Kirkus Reviews

"An engaging and creative story...woven with a generous amount [of] humor."—VOYA

Jason Segel
Jason Segel used to have nightmares just like Charlie, and just like Charlie, he's learned that the things we're most afraid of are the things that can make us strong . . . if we're brave enough to face them. Jason likes acting, writing, making music, and hanging out with his friends. Sometimes he writes movies. Sometimes he writes songs for movies. Sometimes he stars in those movies and sings those songs. You might know him from The Muppets and Despicable Me. Your parents might know him from other stuff. Nightmares! The Lost Lullaby is his third book in the Nightmares! series. Look for the rest of the books in the series: Nightmares!, Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic, and Everything You Need to Know About NIGHTMARES! and How to Defeat Them, available from Delacorte Press.

Kirsten Miller grew up in a small town just like Cypress Creek, minus the purple mansion. She lives and writes in New York City. Kirsten is the author of the acclaimed Kiki Strike books, the New York Times bestseller The Eternal Ones, and How to Lead a Life of Crime. Nightmares! The Lost Lullaby is the third novel Kirsten has written with Jason Segel. You can visit her at kirstenmillerbooks.com or follow @bankstirregular on Twitter.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780385744263
Lexile Measure
670
Guided Reading Level
U
Publisher
Yearling Books
Publication date
July 28, 2015
Series
Nightmares!
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV010000 - Juvenile Fiction | Bedtime & Dreams
JUV018000 - Juvenile Fiction | Horror
Library of Congress categories
-

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