Written by Joanne Schwartz
Illustrated by Afsaneh Sanei
Tundra Books

From the award-winning author of Town Is by the Sea comes a beautiful and meditative story about seeing the world around you in a new way.

A girl wakes up from a dream she can’t shake. Her head is full of clouds.

When she goes outside, the things she normally doesn’t pay much attention to suddenly reveal their beauty: the plants growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, the shimmering puddles, the notes from a violin drifting in the air. She revels in this strangeness of the familiar, and eventually her dream comes back to her in all its surrealness.

When she meets a friend, she feels solid and connected again, part of the world — but she doesn’t lose the gifts that this strange morning gave her: the quietly profound wonder of the everyday and the joy of being present.

Joanne Schwartz’s lyrical text and Afsaneh Sanei’s gorgeous art are a dreamy pairing that will reward readers with something special in every read.

REVIEWS

“Schwartz’s lyrical text effectively uses second-person narration to place readers firmly in the driver’s seat, empowering them to notice quotidian details. Sanei’s digitally finished, acrylic gouache and colored pencil illustrations beautifully capture the feeling of trying to recall fragments of one’s dreams as they swiftly vanish from memory. A grounded yet dreamy look at how we occupy our place in this vast world.”
– Kirkus, starred review

“[Schwartz’s] rich descriptions engage all the senses, effectively emphasizing the protagonist’s experiences as she wanders through city streets and lush parks. Sanei’s heavenly acrylic, colored pencil, and gouache illustrations augment the magical moments described in the text. A beautiful and worthwhile addition to any collection.”
– School Library Journal, starred review