Dreamland By Sarah Dessen

The book Dreamland, by author Sarah Dessen, is not exactly what the title seems to be. The first thing I thought of when hearing the title was a girl lost in a dream finding people and magic and waking up into reality. You may or may not have had the same thoughts as I had but let me tell you one thing: that is not it at all. Instead it is a book about a girl, Caitlin, trying to escape her old self and find her new self with her new boyfriend, Rogerson. This perfect relationship soon goes wrong when Rogerson begins to abuse her; which leads to Caitlin falling out of dreamland and into a nightmare. Caitlin realizes that “being with Rogerson is more of a problem than being without him” (Goodreads Author).

The book Dreamland starts out to a
Caitlin was really struggling about how to feel about Rogerson. She questioned whether she had done something wrong by letting him hit her or whether it was his fault. Her parents visited her every other day where they would go on walks or do puzzles. One day her mom brought her her camera, (she had taken up photography as a hobby earlier in the book) and told her that she could document her feelings if she ever wanted to express herself. It took courage but day by day she was able to take pictures. Just one at a time. It started with objects such as flowers but she eventually was able to get up to people. Her mom brought in her pictures of Rogerson, and friends, and family, and a self portrait. It was of Caitlin wearing a white t-shirt and her head cocked to the side with only a small bruise visible on her neck. She hated that girl in the picture; the girl staring at her with no expression. She “ripped up the picture, one long gash across her face. Then again, and again, tearing the pieces down until they grew smaller and smaller, tiny bits like the stones of a crazy mosaic” (Dessen 227). One day Caitlin received a letter from Cass. She couldn’t open it just yet, she had to wait until she was ready. After Caitlin left rehab she went home to find the biggest surprise of all,
Caitlin was lost almost as if she was drowning when Rogerson came into her life. She wanted so badly to make him happy because he was all she had. When Caitlin went into rehab it was as if she was trying to learn to swim again. Baby Steps, learning how to use her arms to stay balanced and her feet to propel her. Finally, when Caitlin left rehab and came home to find Cass it was as if she had made it. According to Caitlin, she “concentrated on reaching the surface, feeling the water break across my face as I burst through it into the air to finally breathe on my own” (Dessen