The Dream Bearer

September 20, 2004
A 12-year-old boy living in Harlem meets a man who says he's more than 300 years old and that he is a dream bearer. According to PW
, "Myers portrays a young man who, warts and all, emerges as a knowable and admirable hero." Ages 10-up.

June 9, 2003
As in Myers's Handbook for Boys: A Novel, an older man imparts his experience and wisdom to a bright, receptive youth—in this case, 12-year-old narrator David. The author returns readers to Harlem's 145th Street, where David lives, and the book spills over with the neighborhood's sights, sounds, triumphs and challenges. David's father, whom the boy calls Reuben, has been suffering from mental instability (he was hospitalized for three months and prescribed medication, which he often refuses to take), so when David and his best friend, Loren, meet Mr. Moses Littlejohn in a nearby park, the man assumes the role of male mentor. Mr. Moses tells the boys he's more than 300 years old and that he is a dream bearer ("There are special dreams, dreams that fill up the soul, dreams that can be unfolded like wings and lift you off the ground. Those are the dreams I must bear"). At times the plot strands begin to overwhelm the novel (Reuben's sudden bouts of violence; David's brother's involvement with drugs; his mother's battle with a landlord—who happens to have hired Reuben—over a building she had worked to secure as a homeless shelter). However, the evolving relationships between David and his mother, brother and Loren perceptively reflect the hero's growing insight. And David's budding friendship with Mr. Moses subtly plants a seed of compassion in David for his father, allowing David to step in and be there for both men at crucial junctures. Myers portrays a young man who, warts and all, emerges as a knowable and admirable hero. Ages 10-up.

June 1, 2003
Gr 5-8-While shooting hoops in his Harlem neighborhood with his friend Loren, 12-year-old David Curry befriends an ancient, shamanlike gentleman named Moses Littlejohn. Claiming to be a 300-year-old dream bearer-one who harnesses and preserves human dreams-Mr. Moses slowly imparts his dreams with exciting storytelling finesse to the boys, eventually helping David cope with his abusive father and older brother's descent into gangs and drug dealing. The story admirably addresses the many facets of anger and forgiveness within the African-American community, making it potentially compelling as a politically driven children's novel. However, unlike Myers's Monster (HarperCollins, 1999) and other previous works, the seams between political agenda and storytelling become more visible, and the author's ability to intertwine plot and message loses its subtlety as lengthy emotional outbursts break the otherwise intriguing action into bits and pieces. As a result, this stop/start style will most likely distract and frustrate younger readers from grasping Myers's overall picture. Still, the book says much about the importance of forgiveness and understanding in the world today, and for that reason, librarians will want to have a copy on their shelves even though its demand won't reach the heights of Myers's classics.-Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2004
Twelve-year-old David's father is home from a mental hospital and trying to control his anger; David's brother may be involved with drugs; and their mother tries to keep the family together. When he meets Mr. Moses, who calls himself a "dream bearer," David begins to understand his own place in the family and the outside world. A challenging yet satisfying snapshot of a life.

(Copyright 2004 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)