Winter's sophomore outing makes a perfect bookend to her debut, In the Shadow of Blackbirds (2013): both are turn-of-the-century historical novels rife with surprising detail, infused with mysticism, and starring young women aching to break free from societal constraints. After Olivia, 17, meets young hypnotist Henri Reverie at a performance, her domineering father hires Henri to rid his budding suffragist daughter of "unfeminine thoughts." It works ough not as planned. Olivia can no longer speak in anger and discovers that she can "see the world as it truly is"; in other words, those who behave monstrously look like monsters, those whose spirits have been broken look like ghosts, and so forth. The metaphor of mass hypnosis as a means of keeping women "in their place" is a potent one, and Winters' ability to flex this metaphor in illuminating ways is a delight. The relationships are somewhat less successful ivia and Henri are mostly without flaw, and Olivia's father can be hard to swallow t Winters continues to be a refreshing, incisive talent with a unique perspective.

In Portland, Oregon, 1900, strong-willed seventeen-year-old Olivia Mead supports suffrage; her overbearing single father does not. Dr. Mead hires handsome hypnotist Henri Reverie to "teach her to accept the world the way it truly is." Fluid boundaries between what's tangible and what's intuited, lucidity and unconsciousness, sanity and madness are particularly apt for this story about hypnotism and emotional manipulation. Reading list, timeline.

Gr 9 Up-What if you could tell a person's true nature just by his appearance? Emotional vampires would be represented with fangs and a ghastly pallor; feeble, miserable individuals would flicker in and out of existence. Winters's latest historical novel, set in Portland, Oregon, in the year 1900, explores this question and others. The daughter of a cruel dentist, Olivia Mead is called onto stage at a show to be hypnotized by the young yet famous Henri Reverie. Her furious father enlists Reverie's help to browbeat Olivia into her proper role as a woman, forcing her to "see the world the way it truly is." When Olivia realizes she cannot voice her dissent and that she can truly see peoples' natures, she must take her future into her own hands with the help of Reverieall set within the backdrop of a dynamic suffragist movement. Winters combines the history of women's rights in the early 20th century with a spellbinding story of a young woman caught at a crossroads between family and self. A strong female protagonist, realistic dialogue, and well-written prose allow readers to become immersed in Olivia's rather unique (and sometimes frightening) world. Aesthetically, bibliophiles and novices alike will love the old-fashioned introductory chapter photographs with leading quotes. Amanda C. Buschmann, Atascocita Middle School, Humble, TX

It is the year 1900 in Portland, Oregon. Olivia Mead, along with her friends, attends the theater on Halloween to witness a hypnotism show performed by Henri Reverie. Olivia's friend volunteers her to come up on stage to be hypnotized, which she does begrudgingly. Before she succumbs to the hypnotist, she thinks back to the earlier events of the day when she was on the steps of the courthouse with other suffragists getting egged. She finds out later that the hypnotist actually stood on top of her prone body laid across two chairs. When her father finds out that Olivia had attended a pro-suffragette rally, he invites the hypnotist to their home to keep Olivia meek and mild, unlike her own mother, who is strong willed, independent, and lives in New York. Henri hypnotizes her to see men and women as they really are. This begins for Olivia with images of her own father as a monstrous demon and continues with almost everyone she sees. The story is infused with dramatic tension once Olivia is hypnotized, and the tension is held until the end of the book. The book includes period photographs of suffragists, along with a timeline and recommended reading.This is Winters's second novel. Her first book, In the Shadow of Blackbirds (Abrams, 2013/VOYA June 2013), was a Morris Award finalist. The Cure for Dreaming will appeal to readers of historical fiction, as well as readers who appreciate horror novels.Pat Clingman.The Cure for Dreaming is about a young lady named Olivia Mead, the daughter of a dentist, who lives with her father during the 1900s. She goes to a hypnotist show at the start of the story, and after this her life drastically changes as she battles for women's rights while also battling the emotions inside her. Winters does a wonderful job of bringing the story to life while adding in a supernatural side. 5Q, 4P.Katarina Dranchak, Teen Reviewer.