The Great Good Thing by Roderick Townley

This was a nice little book, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. It's over 200 pages, but it's literally a little book. The main setting for this story is within the pages of a book called The Great Good Thing. The characters in the book are told that the number one rule is never look into the eyes of the Reader. Sophie, the protagonist and princess in the story, goes past looking into the eyes and decides to leave the book and enter Claire’s dreams; Claire is the Reader of the book. Claire, Sophie, and a mysterious, blue-eyed girl have many adventures in Claire’s mind. Sophie’s book world starts to fall apart as Claire gets older, starts to forget the story. No copies of the book can be found to preserve their memories, so Sylvie and all of the book characters may disappear if Claire’s memories die with her.

I really enjoyed the imagination of the author and the uniqueness of the plot. Reading this book will require you to think. Placing the settings within the pages of a book, inside dreams, and inside memories is very unusual. Sophie is a remarkable and believable character, and she is the key to solving the problem. The mysterious, blue-eyed girl is always around to give advice, and you may be surprised at her true identity. There is foreshadowing, so look for the clues. I also liked how the author included this character into the resolution of the problem.