Dream Merchant Hardcover - 2005

Excerpt

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.

Media reviews

"An epic fantasy, original and fresh. Here's the evidence we should be publishing more books in translation. Brilliant." — Michael Morpurgo, Britain's Children's Laureate — Quote