title: Dreaming Anastasia: A Novel of Love, Magic, and the Power of Dreams
author:  Joy Preble 
description: Grade 9 UpThis convoluted and contrived story shuttles between contemporary Chicago, Russia during the reign and downfall of the Romanovs, and the enchanted world of Baba Yaga. Ann, 17, who lives in Chicago, and Ethan, a handsome 18-year-old who mysteriously enters her world, share the narration. She is attracted by his beauty, and she soon develops strange magical powers. Ethan has powers as well; he can protect people and places. Readers eventually learn that he is actually a man who died in 1918 during the Russian Revolution. Ann begins to hear Anastasia's voice in her dreams and sees Baba Yaga and her frightening antics. Supposedly Ann is the one who can save Anastasia Romanov from Baba Yaga's clutches, where she has been since her family was brutally murdered by the revolutionaries, and Ethan has come to enlist her help. After a great deal of mystery about Ann's connection to the Romanov legacy, readers learn that she is the great-great granddaughter of Victor, Anastasia's illegitimate brother who has also survived since 1918. He is trying to stop Ann and Ethan from rescuing Anastasia; if she is found, Ethan and Victor will become mortal and die. In spite of the confusing back and forth, persevering readers might forge ahead to see how the story concludes, but it is a difficult read. Also, the contemporary scenes between Ann and her friend Tess contrast sharply with the book's main focus, and Tess's bitterness over the loss of her virginity awkwardly intrudes on the main plot.<i>Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ## [Dedication](9780062879431_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-1)
  
  
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  _For Catherine who loved it first, to Helen for_
  
  
  _helping to make a dream come true, and to Rui for always_
  
  
  _believing that it would_
  
  
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  ## [1](9780062879431_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-2)
  
  
  ## [The Girl Who Found Lost
  Things](9780062879431_Contents.xhtml#r_idParaDest-2)
  
  
  MOST PEOPLE THINK being born with a magical power would be a bit of a dream
  come true. But that’s only because they assume that they’d get _exciting_
  powers, like the ability to fly, become invisible, or turn an annoying
  relative into a pig. They think _magic_ is a big feast, where everything is
  laid out, ripe for the picking.
  
  
  However, in the world of Starfell, not everyone who is lucky enough to have a
  bit of magic up their sleeve these days gets the really good bits—l