"The Dreamer"

Overall, I really liked “The Dreamer.” At first, I thought it was going to be another school story with the jock, the rebel, etc. However, on page two, the murder of the main character’s father throws a wrench into the plot. We are able to see deeper into the lives of this character and his mother, as well as Debbie with her backstory. By the end, the reader realizes that Mr. Bland killed the bad men in the town and tried to save Jack’s father as well as find his killer and bring him to justice. Turns out, the man with the boring name is an undercover vigilante. My favorite part of the story was probably Mr. Bland’s name. Obviously, it implies boredom and plainness. However, his character seems very wise: having a statue of Justice in his office, always giving advice, and keeping order at the school in a reasonable way. His character seems very level-headed and mature. This was a story which I found myself liking more than one character (shocking). I liked Jack, Scott, Jack’s mother, and Mr. Bland. However, my biggest problem, even though it is small, is the way Jack found the note. I think it’s a little clichéd to have a secret room/space with a symbol denoting its entrance, as well as a little unbelievable in the real world (not Hollywood). Perhaps the main character could find the note in a different way. Also, toward the beginning there were some shift tenses; because the writer wrote most of the story in the near past, I suggest switching the few sentences of present tense to the near past. Otherwise, I think the dialogue is interesting and the story never got boring for me! Good job.