Customer Reviews

The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First, a caveat emptor: I know the authors and count them as friends. That said, if I hadn't really enjoyed The Seems I simply wouldn't have written anything here at all. Luckily this was not the case. This a book with a grand and cinematic flare. Meet Becker Drane, he's a very cool kid who just happens to have the coolest job in the world that entails him using James Bond via Willy Wonka gadgets and the sage words of those that have trained him for the tasks at hand. Highly unpredictable, and full of skewed humor that made me laugh right out loud several times, the book is a great stepping off point with plenty of promise for what's to come in the series. Take a chance on this one...

I had to sign some kind of form at the front of this book before reading it, so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you any of this...but here goes.

Imagine that The World we know is constructed somewhere else. The sunset is painted daily, the world's rain is regulated through a huge water tank, and a Good Night's Sleep is packaged, processed, and sent to you nightly, with a specially built dream enclosed just for you. Beyond the In-Between, every detail of the world is carefully fashioned by workers in The Seems.

When Becker Drane was nine years old, he filled out an application for "The Best Job in the World" on a lark. Three years later, he's a newly promoted Fixer for The Seems eagerly awaiting his first mission. However, the one he receives is tougher than most--to fix a Glitch that is ravaging the Department of Sleep.

The World is in peril as The Chain of Events that depends on the delivery of the night's dreams grows in danger of slipping. Becker must use all of his skills and training to find the Glitch before a Ripple Effect occurs, undoing all of the careful work of The Seems and ripping the very Fabric of Reality away.

Humorous and exciting, this first book left me eager for more from this new series, and you can be sure I'll be reading the rest.

As long as I can get past the red tape next time...

Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose

THE SEEMS

As a grandparent thinking of books to fascinate the hearts and minds of grandchildren, "The Seems" is high on my list. Like Winnie-the-Pooh sixty or so years ago (I hate to admit it), this book has the capacity to feed the imagination of an entire generation of young people. And like Winnie the Pooh, behind the wondrous child's tale lies an adult perspective that is full of tender humor, irony, and an appealing philosophy of life.
Becker Drane is a twelve year old boy from Highland Park, New Jersey who, having applied for the "Best Job in the World," finds himself a "Fixer" in the "Seems," the invisible world behind our own that keeps things here on earth running according to the "Plan." When a Glitch occurs in the Department of Sleep, and no one on earth is getting the shut-eye they need, Becker gets the call to "Fix" the situation. In the highly competent company of senior Fixer Cassiopia Lake, an engaging and gutsy twenty-some year old girl, he sets out to save the world. The adventure is fast paced and taut enough to keep young readers on the edge of their chairs. Adults will love the sophisticated humor, word play, and above all the deeper human values which, for a reader like me, are the book's strongest selling point.

Tony Gaenslen

I am over 60 and work in a school library processing books for an elementary school. When I processed THE SEEMS, the book jacket info caught my attention and I took the book home to read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I really got into the characters. The authors have done an excellent job of using familar words and making them tell THE STORY with capital letters in a most unusual way. I see a good versus evil theme working its way through the storyline. I enjoyed the positive slant to the story, how it was an adventure and fantasty all in one, and how I look forward to the sequel. Good reading for young and old.

A great first book that introduces a world I hope to have a chance of revisiting!

The opening chapter grabs you, pulls you in and unveils a whole new world that you never knew existed. This is an amalgamation of Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling and Douglas Adams and yet manages to remain unique - not a "re-telling" to simply try and hitch a ride on the Potter bandwagon (I loved Harry Potter).

The Seems will appeal to readers young and old alike. For the young it is a well told adventure / fantasy, for the older reader it has a story that keeps you turning the pages, with the added entertainment of some clever word play.

If you have ever wondered what makes the difference between a good day and a bad day then you have to read this book!

Becker Drane has arrived just in time to fill "Harry's" void and create a whole new set of wonderfully written and artfully developed characters and plotlines!!! I wasn't looking for Becker, but he found me while I was looking for new books for my grandchildren and other young family members and friends. I read the blurb, browsed through the first chapter and was hooked. I bought and read "The Seems: A Glitch In Sleep" to make sure that it would be appropriate for the children I had in mind (boys and girls aged 8-14) and I LOVED it. I returned and purchased a slew of books to give as gifts! I'm definitely keeping my copy, though!! Apart from the very imaginative adventure and fantasy (for both boys and girls..hooray!) the authors skillfully present some very mature themes that can easily be adapted for use as the basis for family or school discussions!! I've already had some terrific conversations with several young people to whom I've given the book and look forward to many more. Apparently this is the first in a trilogy of books (yeah!) and my grandson has already put in his order for the next installment!!! Becker Drane and his family and friends live in a world that children, teenagers and even some adults (I proudly admit) can both relate to in everyday life and visualize in fantasies. Welcome Becker!!!!

I purchased this for my 11-year-old son. He loves this book. When I questioned him about it he said that it was "different" and "hard to explain" yet he gave it 5-stars.

During the time that he was reading it, he was required to do a book report for school on any age-appropriate fiction book. He chose NOT to do this book because it would be too hard for him to explain in the limited space he's allowed.

Overall, this is a complex book that kept my son's interest. He's now excited to read the second book in the series.

Written by childhood friends, John Hulme and Michael Wexler, The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep (Bloomsbury, 2007), is a Matrix look at the The Truman Show for middle school boys. In fact, both times I tried to read it one of my boys stole it and read it before I could. Main character Becker Drane applies for a job at the age of nine, and is selected for a top secret position in the world behind our world, called The Seems. He joins a cadre of chosen applicants callled The Fixers, whose job is to fix problems in our world. I love it that the team includes an eighty-plus year old woman, a middle age man, a teen surfer...a real mixed bag of characters who rely on one another at some point in the story.

The book uses double entendres, cliches, puns and well-chosen names that will produce groans and rolled eyes in some readers and guffaws in others. It's a great read for kids who love word play and imaginative fantasy+adventure stories.

My children loved the non-sequential nature of the book, but it took me by surprise.

I had never read these authors' books before, but I thought it was really good. The characters were well developed and the plot was fast moving. An excellent read for anyone who has ever wondered what might be behind the world we live in.

Where to start? Firstly, the book was absolutely brilliant. It brought back all of the thoughts of "If I could be..." from when I was eleven and had a kind of bringing back of old fantasies. It starts slow, but picks up quickly and makes you want to find out what happens next. The writing is very clever, using our own phrases and thoughts and making them a reality. The main character is the perfect blend of kid-like innocence and adult maturity and the story includes a cast of realistic and memorable characters. It's a book for everybody from little kids to teens and even some adults. It's a wonderful book that I would suggest to anybody that appreciates or likes sci-fi or fantasy books.