Dreamland social club

Jane has traveled the world with her father and brother, but it's not until her fractured family-still silently suffering from the loss of Jane's mother many years before-inherits a house and a history in Coney Island that she finally begins to find a home. With the help of a new community of friends, a mermaid's secrets, and a tattooed love interest with traffic-stopping good looks, the once plain Jane begins to blossom and gains the courage to explore the secrets of her mother's past.

Colorful characters, beautiful writing, and a vibrant, embattled beachfront backdrop make this the perfect summer read for anyone who has ever tried to find true love or a place to call home.

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Author Notes

Tara Altebrando graduated from Harvard University. She has written several books including Dreamland Social Club, The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life, The Pursuit of Happiness, What Happens Here, The Battle of Darcy Lane, and My Life in Dioramas. She is also the co-author of Roomies with Sara Zarr.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews 3

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-7-Tara Altebrando's story (Dutton, 2011) interweaves family sorrows, the history of Coney Island, carnival "freaks," and first love. Jane, her brother, and her father have moved many times since the death of her mother. The family moves to Brooklyn from London when the siblings inherit the home in Coney Island where their mother grew up. Jane hopes to get to know her mother better by learning about boardwalk life. The author incorporates a lot of fascinating Coney Island history as Jane meets a unique group of characters at her unconventional high school, among them a little person named Babette, Legs the Giant, and Leo, a familiar but mysterious tattooed boy. Along the way, she learns about her family's carnie past. Intriguing characters and a deft blend of carnival history both past and present draw listeners in. Erin Moon is a strong narrator, giving all the characters unique voices. Her excellent pacing helps convey Jane's confusion. The combination of personal loss and growth, eccentric characters, and the sad decline of both people and places will intrigue teens-B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara Public Library System, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

When Jane and her brother inherit the house in Coney Island where their late mother grew up, they move in with their father, planning to stay one year to prepare the house for sale. Sixteen-year-old Jane has lived everywhere from London to Tokyo, but amid Coney Island's rundown attractions and checkered history, she hopes to find clues about the mother she desperately misses. Palpable without being melodramatic, Jane's longing is well-wrought, as is the supporting cast of teenage dwarves, giants, and other Brooklyn natives, including a love interest for Jane. The mysteries Altebrando (What Happens Here) weaves into her story (what is the Dreamland Social Club? what iconic Coney sites do the keys Jane finds unlock? why is the carousel horse chained to a radiator in their living room so important?) will keep readers engaged, though not much really happens. Rather, this is a languid, introspective novel about a search for identity and meaning; against the backdrop of impending gentrification and development, both Jane and Coney Island itself are caught between the pull of the past and the uncertainty of the future. Ages 14-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Jane, a self-admitte. Looky Lo. afraid to take risks, is the type of girl with a closet full of gray skirts. Her high-school career has been defined by constant moves throughout Europe as her widower father searches for work. Yet, when her grandfather dies, the family inherits a new house in her mother's childhood home, near Coney Island in Brooklyn. Jane must acclimate to a high-school atmosphere in which the cliques resemble sideshow acts. As Jane and her brother, Marcus, delve into their departed mother's past, she recaptures bits of memories of life before her mother died and clues about her mother'. carn. past amid the glitz of Coney Island in its heyday. This novel offers typical teenage issues and the angst over making friends and catching the right boy's eye, but it is also a study in diversity, acceptance, and what it means to b. norma. as introverted Jane learns that everyone has his or her own freakishness to overcome.--Anderson, Eri. Copyright 2010 Booklist

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