Challenge 3: Nightmares!

Title: Nightmares!
Author: Jason Segel and Kristen Miller
355 pages
Genre: Childrens, Horror, Adventure
Book Description: Sleeping has never been so scary. And now waking up is even worse!
Charlie Laird has several problems:
1. His dad married a woman he is sure moonlights as a witch.
2. He had to move into her purple mansion, which is not a place you want to find yourself after dark.
3. He can’t remember the last time sleeping wasn’t a nightmarish prospect. Like even a nap.

What Charlie doesn’t know is that his problems are about to get a whole lot more real. Nightmares can ruin a good night’s sleep, but when they start slipping out of your dreams and into the waking world—that’s a line that should never be crossed. And when your worst nightmares start to come true . . . well, that’s something only Charlie can face. And he’s going to need all the help he can get, or it might just be lights-out for Charlie Laird. For good.

Challenge 3: Read a book you've never heard of before.  Well as I had mentioned before this book I picked only because I wanted to participate on the Winter Bibliathon and for challenge  and while I was buying the book Otherworld for the reading Challenge I found other works by the same authors. After I had bought these books and received them... I realized they were childrens books. I mean I didn't even read the book description, not even when I received the package but from looking at the cover and them flipping through the pages and seeing the pictures, I was like ooh this is a childrens book. That's why I hadn't heard anything about it. But well my challenge was to read a book I had heard nothing about, and indeed I knew nothing about it. Challenge met.

Main characters:
Charlie is a normal seventh grader except for the fact that just a few mothns prior his father decided to remarry after 3 years of his mother's passing. Charlie strongly dislikes the stepmother. He believes she's out to get his father and little brother. He starts having bad dreams since they moved into the big purple house belonging to Charlotte DeChant.
Jack is charlie's younger brother, he's eight years old and loves Charlotte. He is feeling hurt mainly by Charlie's mean streak since their father married Charlotte. 
Alfie is one of Charlie's best friends. He is the smarty guy in their class, not very good in sports but a close friend of Charlie.
Rocco he is the tallest kid in their grade and very good in sports not such an excellent student when it comes to grades but he's not the worst. He is another of Charlie's best friends.
Paige is a lovely girl who loves pink and is always there for her friends. She's had a rough childhood and that made her mature well beyond her years. Her friends see her as a reliable and strong girl who's not afraid of anything. They come to realize she has fears just like any other person.

So as the description said, Charlie starts having nightmares since he moved into the new house, the big purple house is his penance. He dislikes it, he dislikes the stepmom and wants nothing to do with the new family forming. He becomes moody and bratty; this distances him from his father and little brother putting even more strain on him therefore his nightmares keep getting worse. Without him realizing Charlie starts to give his terror to his best friends and they along with many kids from school start getting nightmares at night. Charlotte, the stepmother tries to get close to Charlie but he definately doesn't even try, he dislikes her and he becomes convinced that she's a witch because in his dreams there's a witch who looks a lot like her.
He gets so scared that he tries to stop himself from sleeping. But the witch is very good, she taunts and pokes at Charlies weaknesses until he finally is pulled into the Netherworld, the place where all the nightmares live. He meets Meduso and Dabney a couple of strange nightmare mosnters. Most of the kids from his school are there the only difference is that they are dreaming and their bodies are safely on the Waking Wolrd, just Charlie managed to get himself completely into their world. He runs froms his fears instead of facing them but along the way he finds his best friends facing their own fears. He decides to help them, afterall if he hadn't spread his fear they wouldn't be having nightmares.
During this exciting adventure Charlie, and his friends realize that the what they are afraid of isn't as important as to the why. They learn to rely on his friends; to confide and help each other face their fears because only facing and beating your fear is the way to get over them. We get a nice story full of adventures and awesome friendship, kids sticking out for one another and understanding that nightmares are not exactly bad. Nightmares help kids realize what their true fears are, there is always something under the surface and the monsters help us face them and get over it.

I gave this a 5 out of 5 stars, it was a very good read. I will say it is a childrens story but it captures your attention no matter what age you are. I will be keeping this book to have some for my little niece or something. I definately will read it to her, hopefully she won't get too scared.