Wilomina: Land of Dreams and Nightmares
John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs
Scholastic

Wilomina, her father, and baby brother Kes, are on their way to visit Mum in hospital when a creature dashes across the road causing their car to get stuck. They’re in the middle of nowhere but Wilomina insists she’s seen a station, dashes ahead and followed by Dad and baby, jumps aboard a train, destination unknown. While Dad is changing Kes, Wilomina meets a talking cat, who introduces itself as Mephisto. The cat tells her that they must leave the train immediately and Wilomina takes a leap and finds herself separated from her dad and brother, in a weird place called Nocturna, where, so Mephisto says, dreams and nightmares come from. It seems though, as if the nightmares are taking over: can Wilomina trust the shape-shifting cat to help her return to the real world and find her family? Seemingly it’s her only chance so they set off together.

On their travels they encounter snakes, spectres, spider-witches, dragons; they have to cross monster-infected waters on a raft before reaching the Premonition Library where mazes and monsters abound. In the library they encounter the librarian who leads them to a massive book-filled room, the maps and gateways section filled with millions of books. ‘Good luck! And remember: inner calm’ she tells them leaving them to search. Wilomina discovers a book that invites them to ‘solve this puzzle to find your gate to the Waking Hours’ with two small envelopes and the words, ‘choose carefully or perish!’

What next? The worst thing is that Wilomina is slowly but surely transforming into a fierce werepire. Will this nightmare ever end? Can Wilomina overcome her inner monster, find her dad and brother and get to the hospital to see Mum?

With a courageous protagonist, this spooky (but never too scary) magical adventure, vibrantly illustrated in graphic novel format will be devoured by readers who prefer their stories told mainly through visuals. This surreal story continues in book 2 coming next year.