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Monday, May 17, 2010

Dream Factory by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler


She nods. "Luke, how was it today?" "Same. You?" "Mostly the same. A radical feminist fifth-grader wanted to know if I wasn't reinforcing negative female stereotypes with my dependence on Prince Charming." I laugh and sit beside her, kicking off my flip-flops. "How'd you explain that one?" "I think I said something along the lines of 'get away from me.' It seemed to satisfy her curiosity."
The characters at Disney World are on strike. As a result, the "happiest place on earth" has no characters. No one is playing Cinderella, Chip, Dale, Snow White, Jasmine, or anyone else. It may seem alright- after all, you still have everything else, right? Wrong. Without the characters, the show just can't go on. There aren't any shows. There are no character breakfasts. No one to sign autographs. What is Disney World with not princesses? No heros? No Damsels in distress, or villains? So they start hiring anyone they can. With the people, comes Luke S. (all you geeks out there- bet you can't guess his middle name), and Ella. Through a scavenger hunt, and the rest of their short time there as temporary replacement characters, Luke and Ella have to figure out whether they can make their own happy endings, out of the unmagical lives they have.
It was weird ending the date, if you could even call it that. It was more like three friends going out to eat and shopping, and taking along their very beautiful and very angry pit bull.
This book caught my attention because of it's cover. It's hot pink, with a catch title. I brought it home because of what it's synopsis was. How many romance novels take place in Disney world? Pretty few. Although this book is obviously a romance novel, that's not all it is. It also has lessons on how to make something out of what you have, how to turn your life around, being yourself, being true to what you believe in, and all that. I'd give it about 4 and a half stars.

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