Nightmare Academy

By Dean Lorey

Book Overview

Hogwarts meets Men in Black in a thrilling comic adventure about a very gifted boy who joins a monster fighting academy.

Charlie Benjamin is not like other children - when he sleeps he has terrible nightmares, and when he wakes it is to find his room has been wrecked. Then one day he wakes up to find a monster by his bed. Luckily, a band of monster-hunting strangers arrives and saves him, only to whisk him away for interrogation by the mysterious "Nightmare Division".

It turns out that Charlie has the "Gift" - a rare ability to open portals into the dimension where monsters lurk, and the explanation for the devastating force of his nightmares. But his gift makes him a danger to himself and others: when he is made to open a portal his power is so great that he inadvertently wakes Barakkas, one of the most powerful and evil of all monsters.

Threatened with "Reduction" (a lobotomy that would remove his imagination) Charlie is saved by the wise Headmaster of the Nightmare Academy, where he is taken to explore his talents - and prepare for the coming showdown with Barakkas...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0007257198
• ISBN13: 9780007257195
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and under
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 7

Customer Reviews

What a wonderful book!

I just finished the book last night and was very pleased with it. It's about certain kids that are gifted in having nightmares! Yes, that's right... nightmares! There imagination is so great that they can actually create a portal and bring the nightmares here to earth! Charlie is one of these kids. He's been an outcast since he can remember because all the kids think he's a freak. His parents have been overly protective of him because of this and don't want him to leave the house. Then pops in the Nightmare Academy. A place where Charlie just might fit in. At the academy, Charlie's gift (and the other children's gift) is used to help protect Earth from all of the creatures of the Netherworld. Is this a place where Charlie can fit in? Will he be able to use his powers to help? How much trouble can he get into? You'll have to read it to find out. I found this book a very easy read. It kept it's pace and was never boring. I highly recommend this book and can't wait for the next one to come out!

Great read!

I got this book for my sons ages 9 and 12 as they had just finished "Skullduggery Pleasant" and couldn't find anything else they really liked. One after the other (oldest first)they sat down and finished "Nightmare Academy" in one sitting. Video games were left to the side as they were too interested to see what happened at the end of the book. What more could you want?

GRIPPING, SCARY AND FUN ! ! !

A very absorbing tale and the start of a thrilling new series. Great characters and even cooler creatures. Plus a page-turning plot that I found tremendously satisfying. It really transported me to an exciting place -- which is what all good fiction is supposed to do. Can't wait for the NEXT book in the series. Lorey is a YA author to watch!

For both kids AND Big Kids!

I got this for my 9 year old the other day. He started poking at it like it was cod liver oil. Like most 9 year old boys do when their father puts a BOOK in front of them. I told him it was probably like the Potter series - which he liked to WATCH... But I had him read the first ten pages before he could go to bed. Imagine my surprise when I find him sitting at the kitchen table with TWO CHAPTERS left! He'd spent the entire night immersed in NA and kept 'shushing' me when I started asking him normal mundane questions about his plans for the day. (ok theres's some paternal schadenfreude at work here.) But when he was done he was bubbling with excitement. Showing me the illustrations, trying to tell me the whole story. I told him I'd read it too and then we could talk about it. I started it right there and read it cover to cover. Now, Lorey's not writing in the style of Proust, he's got a very digestible and flowing style that keeps you chewing thru page after page. But this was a lot of fun. He created a whole fun uniqe world that I'd never visited. Good going. For his freshman outing this was a joy and a pleasure.

Very Enjoyable

This book is for fiction and fantasy buffs of all ages and it was all but impossible to put down. You will easily get wrapped up in the frightening world presented by Lorey in this book. These days there is no shortage of books that involve fantasy, magic, and adventure; however Lorey's combination of those three genres works well. Nightmare Academy also brings a shockingly refreshing amount of originality to the idea of a school for "talented" children, resulting in a resounding triumph for any post-Harry Potter series. I found it very enjoyable.