Dream Hunters by Nazima Pathan
Many stories feature alternate worlds or the ability for characters to travel between them and that sense of magic and adventure is something that young readers adore. Check out our guest post from author Nazima Pathan about her book, Dream Hunters.
Out of the Looking Glass: When characters step out of a hidden enclave into our world.
By Nazima Pathan
The concept of hidden worlds has a timeless appeal in children’s literature, offering young readers a chance to explore different ways of living through the blurred boundaries between reality and fantasy. Placing the reader into the head of somebody entering our world for the first time allows us to explore our ways of living and the rules that govern them.
In Dream Hunters, 12-year-old Mimi Malou’s quiet life of dream hunting in a hidden Citadel is disrupted when she uncovers a sinister plot to scare a distant king to death in his sleep. To save him, she must leave the Citadel and journey to the North of India. Her quest takes her through towns and cities, on carts and trains, exposing her to poverty and hardship—a stark contrast to the comfort she has always known. The story shines a light on found family and friendship, the dangerous allure of money and power, and the triumph of good people working together to overcome adversity.
The clash of cultures and belief systems when newcomers face the complexities of life in our modern world can add the confusion and chaos a good adventure novel needs in its set up. Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson an ordinary New York-based boy discovers he is a demigod, a son of the god Poseidon who is thrown into the complex rivalries between his father and the fellow residents on Mount Olympus. This soon places Percy in mortal danger as he discovers his heritage and fights to save his mother from the clutches of Hades.
Greek god capers continue in Maz Evan’s Who Let the Gods Out? series, which is both riotously funny and deeply moving. It follows Elliot, a carer for his mother, who fears losing their home. When he meets the Zodiac goddess Virgo, they accidentally release an evil daemon, Thanatos, from his imprisonment under Stonehenge and must race to save the world and stop Elliot’s home from falling into the clutches of his greedy neighbour.
David Solomons’ My Brother is a Superhero series features a young boy, Luke, whose brother Zack suddenly gains superpowers from an alien while in their treehouse. Zack’s new abilities bring chaos to their ordinary lives and challenging their home and school life. The humorous and often absurd situations that arise challenge what readers consider normal, prompting them to reflect on their own routines and societal norms.
Quantum realities also offer a chance to look at how things might have been. Femi Fadugba’s The Upper World and Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife, both targeted at young adults explore different quantum realities, the first in an urban South London setting and the second in the lofty realms of Oxford academia through very different stories and protagonists.
Ultimately, stories of newcomers thrown into our world can ignite the imagination and creativity of young readers. In C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew, Polly and Diggory accidentally transport an evil witch from the hidden realm of Charn to our world, with chaotic consequences as the witch plots to conquer Earth. These real-world capers are framed by the creation of Narnia on the other side of the ring portal, setting up the later stories in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe series.
By blending magic and fantasy with our own reality, stories like these inspire children to believe in the power of imagination, and that magic can be found anywhere if they look hard enough.
