For Your TBR Pile - The Nightmares! Series

Nightmares! and Nightmares! The Sleepwalker Tonic
by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
Random House
Published September 8, 2015

Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller's Nightmares! series has been on my TBR pile ever since it debuted last year. I was super excited when Random House asked me to review the sequel, The Sleepwalker Tonic. I fell in love with this series. Charlie Laird is a fantastic protagonist for both kids and adults.

In Nightmares! we meet Charlie after his mother has died and his father has remarried and moved them into his stepmother's purple mansion down the street. Charlie is sure his new stepmother is probably a witch, and battles terrible nightmares with her every night. Refusing to sleep, he's cranky with his Captain America-loving little brother, Jack and finds extra trouble for himself at school.

After crossing over into a portal into the nightmare world, Charlie faces his fears with the help from his friends (both human and not-so human).

Nightmares! - The Sleepwalker Tonic is a fantastic sequel to the world Segel and Miller have built. When sleepwalking zombies take over the neighboring town, Charlie knows where he can find the culprits.

What is awesome about this series is how easily the talents of Segel and Miller come together to create a powerhouse writing team. The characters are fun, quirky, and hilariously developed. The story has a lot of heart that will appeal to both kids and parents. This is a great series to read aloud.

Bonus: if you get the audio book, Jason Segel reads and has a variety of fantastic voices. Along with his involvement in the Muppets movies, the Nightmares! series shows that Segel knows how to develop awesome stories for children and parents alike. I'm excited to see what he'll continue to do in this space.