Snake Dreamer

by Priscilla Galloway

Dusa Thrasman is 16 years old and in trouble. Snakes haunt her dreams, leaving her afraid to sleep, exhausted and ill. Her doctor has tried everything. Then Dusa sees a TV interview with two doctors, the Gordon sisters. Their curing snake dreamers. But in order to be treated, she must go with the Gordons to their remote clinic on an isolated Greek island.

When Dusa arrives in Greece, peculiar things happen.  At the clinic, the staff and the other patients have run off.  Only Perse and his father, the Gordons' servants, are left. Perse tries to warn Dusa about the Gordons, but his broken English is hard to understand. When the Gordons hypnotize Dusa, what are they trying to find out?  And who was their sister, the original snake dreamer, the one they want to make whole again?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Greece

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Priscilla Galloway is an award-winning Canadian children's literature author and former English teacher. She received a PhD from the University of Toronto in 1977 with her dissertation titled "Sexism and the senior English literature curriculum in Ontario secondary schools."

Reviews

[Candyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great story, I first read in 8th grade, and probably where my love for "the villain's side of the story" started. The protagonist is supposed to be 16, but it reads at a much lower grade than that (I'd say this a good read for grades 4-6) & for years I thought I remembered her being 12.
I am only giving it three stars because there were many issues I noticed about the writing & plot, but I love the story nonetheless.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can overcome your fear of something and even improve yourself if you give yourself the chance.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on the Medusa myth.