Dreamers

De: T.J. Baer

Narrado por: Zia Amador

The week of Leo Torres’ sixteenth birthday, he decides to finally start living as the boy he is. Armed with a new haircut, a chest binder, and a stack of notes declaring his new name to his teachers, Leo shows up to the first day of school ready for a brand new start.

But the ghosts of the past aren’t so easy to overcome. As word about him spreads around school, Leo has to deal with confused classmates, a furious sister, and recurring dreams featuring his long-dead father, who promises he can teach Leo how to “dream walk.” Leo is almost positive the dreams are just that—dreams—but when they take him into the dreamscape of the soft-spoken new kid, Robbie, Leo realizes nothing is as it seems.

Leo never expected to spend his sixteenth year coming out, falling in love, and walking into other people’s sleeping minds, but he’s learning that pretty much anything is possible. Anything he can dream.

©2024 T.J. Baer (P)2025 T.J. Baer

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Heartfelt and full of love, Dreamers will stay with you long after finishing. Baer has crafted a beautiful portrait of friendship, family, and staying true to yourself.”—Alison Evans, author of EUPHORIA KIDS

A cozy, heartwarming story

Dreamers has "slice of life" elements that lend to a heartwarming, cozy story of acceptance and love. The characters are all likeable and realistic, with distinct personalities (even those who do not play a large role in the story as a whole); dialogue between these characters also feels natural, never stopped or forced (and the narrator does a good job of conveying this). [As a side note, I really appreciated the "glitch" edited in to block the protagonists dead name.]

Most importantly, I love that this is a story of trans-acceptance that does not rely on shock-trauma elements that so often pepper other stories with this subject. That's not to say there's no conflict, but the overall feeling from this novel is uplifting. And I appreciate that. As a result, it feels refreshing, and-as I mentioned before-cozy. I like that the young protagonist is freshly embracing their trans-identity; it provides a lot of insight into some of experiences that someone may be going through. I think this is something that all young people would benefit from reading, whether they identify one-to-one with the trans protagonist themselves or if it's just to gain a higher understanding of their trans peers.

I've now read this twice (both in print and audio book) and can definitely provide an enthusiastic recommendation.

Excellent story and narration!

I loved this book when I read it and loved the audio. It’s an emotional and hopeful story about a transgender teen finding his way, and meeting a wonderful boy in the process.