A Little Like Waking - by Adam Rex

About the Book

Book Synopsis

You've Reached Sam meets The Good Place in this deeply-felt, surreal and fully illustrated love story about a girl, a boy, a dreamer, and a dream from best-selling and award-winning author Adam Rex.

Zelda is stuck in a dream. A very strange dream, where people can fly, bears sneeze money, and her childhood cat, Patches, is somehow alive - despite being run over years ago. Things only get stranger when Zelda meets Langston, a sweet if overly timid guy who feels more real to her than anyone she's ever met.

As Zelda and Langston explore the far reaches of the dreamscape together, they find themselves growing closer and closer. But what they uncover along the way pushes them towards a truth neither of them wants to face. Will it turn out that he's the guy of her dreams, or is she the girl of his?

Full of mind-bending artwork, Adam Rex's A Little Like Waking is a tender, insightful read that defies time, space, and expectation that's perfect for fans of Every Day and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Review Quotes

A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
A Finalist for the Ohioana Book Award

"Wildly inventive and achingly touching, this is an exquisite book about longing, love, and grief that mesmerizes on every page. This book is a dreamy, fantastic treasure." -- Kathleen Glasgow, New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces and You'd Be Home Now

"A Little Like Waking is an adventure of a love story that brings the dream world to life with immersive clarity. Whimsical, beautiful, and one of a kind." -- Rachael Lippincott, New York Times bestselling coauthor of She Gets the Girl

"Romantic and constantly surprising, mixing small-town charm with surreal fantasy, A Little Like Waking is a brilliant love letter to the magic of the human mind." -- E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars

★ "A charming, funny, highly imaginative story that invites long thoughts about the nature of reality and the enduring importance of romance." -- Booklist, starred review

"A wonderfully inventive story bursting with humor and heart." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Rex's quest narrative is like none other, sure to leave readers marveling at the wonder of dreams and the power of imagination." -- BookPage

"By turns existential and goofy, this campy, off-the-beaten-path story, propelled via an immediate, stream-of-conscious voice and sprinkled with beguiling artwork, ruminates on themes of loss and love." -- Publishers Weekly

"Surreal...Revelations toward the end, with some twists and turns, provide a payoff that invites re-readings." -- Horn Book Magazine

About the Author