Frankie Uccello is an average kid, in fact, in his opinion, he is a little too average. Until the night when Frankie has a dream, a red dream. Frankie dreams of a red rider falling off of a horse, it may be his best friend Tim. Frankie has been having these "color dreams" since he was young. These dreams are always of something that happens to occur in the next few days. At first, he refuses to believe that he can dream the future, that would be crazy, right? But after the events of the red dream, he can no longer deny that he can in fact dream the future. Although he doesn't believe in these dreams at first, Frankie knows he had to protect Tim, so he asks when his next horse show is. Tim tells him the season has already ended, and Frankie is relieved, but later that night Frankie finds out his father has signed him up to help an autistic kid that he baby-sits, ride horses. There is one small problem with this, Frankie is terrified of horses. For the sake of his friend, he agrees to go to the riding lesson. Here he encounters Weird Maura-Lee, an odd girl from his class that he avoids at all costs. After a few encounters at the barn with Maura-Lee, and the few times Maura-Lee helped Frankie out with an injured bird that he finds, they find that they may actually have something in common. Sure there are rumors that Maura-Lee can read minds, but until now Frankie hasn't believed them. Maura-Lee has a special talent just like Frankie. Soon they find out that Frankie once dreamed of Maura-Lee's house burning down when they were both young. Frankie had tried to do something to stop this, but no one would listen. Maura-Lee is very upset at first, but their friendship makes it through this. Frankie stands up for his friendship with Maura-Lee, despite what others have labeled her. In the end, Frankie and Maura-Lee remain friends, Maura-Lee make some friends of her own, while also strengthening her relationship with her father.
This book is a great example of how two of the most different people can become friends. I would definitely recommend this book to children of the ages 9-13. It is a great book that can teach young readers a lot.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Charleston, West Virginia United States of America
