Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

"Wake up, Caitlin." Caitlin is a typical teenager. She's a pretty good student in school, her best friend is always there, she's on the cheer-leading squad, and she has a perfect guy, Mike Evans, who is falling for her. After her sister Cassandra leaves though, her and her family fall apart.


Cass and Caitlin have been like twins for their whole lives. Although Cass is two years older, people are often comparing them. Cass has always been the perfect one, outstanding 4.0, Prom Queen, and the most popular in her school. Caitlin has always been the shadow behind Cass. Cass falls in love with a guy over the summer, and leaves. Determined to be different than Cassandra, or at least better, she joins the cheer-leading squad. At an ordinary high school party, her faith is decided. 


The tradition is, if a football player offers you his letter-man jacket, and you take it, you two are officially dating. So when Mike Evans, perfect football star but as boring as a cracker, offers her his jacket, she could be happy for the rest of her life. But when she sees the more edgy Rogerson Biscoe, she blows off Mike and pretty much ruins her life.


As we follow Caitlin through events with being with Rogerson, we see that he is abused by his father. We also find out that he is a drug dealer. Caitlin doesn't care though. There is something different about him; something mysterious and interesting, even magnetic. But what happens when being with Rogerson becomes a problem altogether? What if Rogerson starts abusing Caitlin?


Something interesting I find in Dessen books, is that she seems to find it NORMAL for teens to smoke cigarettes, and with each book, I am more and more disgusted. Caitlin, over a period of time, does do pot and chain smokes. The pot is different, and is actually said to be bad, but I find that EVERY SINGLE TEEN SMOKES CIGARETTES. They also act like it's nothing! They can whip it out at school, and don't get in trouble.

**EDIT** One more thing I would like to discuss, is Rogerson Biscoe. He's a drug dealer, and although his family is perfect, rich and usually caring, he is not. Throughout this book I was sure I would hate him, but honestly, I must say he was my favorite character. The only reason why he abuses Caitlin is because his own father beats him, and what happens when you abuse a puppy? When it gets older, it gets mean and tough. He is one of those characters that are so real, and so much more then just a 'character'. When you read the book, you can see that he's so brilliant and sweet, but this older man, who was probably also abused as a child, has made something dark in him.

Overall, this book was fantastic and really a piece of art. Everyone of these books that Dessen writes gets better and better every time. I also LOVE how there are allusions to her other books in each of them. It's just interesting and almost like every book is connected in a way. I do not recommend this to any readers who do not like references to sex, making out scenes, cussing, and drug using. I still do recommend this for others though, because you will learn a lot about life, this I promise.

Overall score: A
Rating: PG-13