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The Bad Dreams of a Good Girl
Fourth grader Lotty has problems with her family and her friends at school.
- GenresChildrens
92 pages, Paperback
First published February 12, 1982
20 people want to read
About the author
Susan Richards Shreve
73 books84 followersAlso know as Susan Shreve. Received the following awards: Jenny Moore Award, George Washington University, 1978; Notable Book citation, American Library Association (ALA), 1979, for Family Secrets: Five Very Important Stories; Best Book for Young Adults citation, ALA, 1980, for The Masquerade; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National Council for Social Studies and the Children's Book Council joint committee, 1980, for Family Secrets: Five Very Important Stories; Guggenheim award in fiction, 1980; National Endowment for the Arts fiction award, 1982; Edgar Allan Poe Award, Mystery Writers of America, 1988, for Lucy Forever and Miss Rosetree, Shrinks; Woodrow Wilson fellowships, West Virginia Wesleyan, 1994, and Bates College, 1997; Lila Wallace Readers Digest Foundation grant.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 5, 2015
Lottie is the youngest child and the only girl in her family. She has three teenage brothers who are always getting in trouble over one thing or another and driving their parents to despair. Lottie is contemptuous of her brothers' antics, but secretly she hates the fact that she seems to have been cast as the Good Child right from the start.
In this book, Lottie is now in a school for gifted children, which she finds a lonely and boring place. A rich girl named Kathy befriends her and then just as quickly forms the I Hate Lottie Club. Lottie reacts by slacking off in school and hopes this will get her expelled and sent back to her old school, but then her brothers suggest that she rain on Kathy's parade by asking to join the I Hate Lottie Club. The strategy works, and Lottie begins to settle in at school ...
Just in time for her mother to go back to work after years of being a stay-at-home mom. This throws Lottie into a panic, so much so that her attempt to play sick turns into a real virus; instead of her mother staying home to take care of her, Lottie spends the day at home by herself, which in spite of her sore throat and fever, she finds she enjoys, especially after she finds an understanding note from her mother.
Then it's Dad's turn to be laid up; after tripping over the family's unintelligent dog, Fleetwood, and injuring his back, Dad is very reluctantly confined to bed. He and Lottie have never really had much to say to each other, until the day Lottie has a day off from school and spends it with her father. At opposite ends of his bed, they quietly work on separate projects: Dad is catching up on his law-office work and Lottie is making a costume for a school play. They begin passing notes back and forth and in this silent version of a conversation they come to understand each other as they never have before.
Throughout the book, Lottie indulges in daydreams wherein her darker fantasies come to life. She dreams about Kathy being humiliated during Field Day at school, and about running away from home and being adopted by the mayor and his wife.
But it's in the last chapter that Lottie's daydreams go too far. After a huge argument with her brother Phillip, during which she pours oil from a tuna-fish can over his head and he retaliates with a pot of white sauce, Lottie fantasizes about going with Phillip on a school trip to Great Gap, where a rickety swinging bridge falls while Phillip is crossing it, and he breaks his leg. Lottie of course saves him and Phillip and his friends are filled with admiration and respect.
Unfortunately, on his real trip to Great Gap, Phillip falls behind the other hikers, catches his foot between some rocks, and breaks his arm. He is missing overnight and Lottie and her family frantically drive to Great Gap to help search for him. They are all relieved to learn Phillip has been found by the time they arrive, and later that night, Lottie and Phillip make a solemn promise that they will not dream bad dreams about each other, since they know now that they can come true.
The book is often hilariously funny, and Lottie's voice is wonderfully astute and witty for a fourth-grader. I do wish it had been longer.
In this book, Lottie is now in a school for gifted children, which she finds a lonely and boring place. A rich girl named Kathy befriends her and then just as quickly forms the I Hate Lottie Club. Lottie reacts by slacking off in school and hopes this will get her expelled and sent back to her old school, but then her brothers suggest that she rain on Kathy's parade by asking to join the I Hate Lottie Club. The strategy works, and Lottie begins to settle in at school ...
Just in time for her mother to go back to work after years of being a stay-at-home mom. This throws Lottie into a panic, so much so that her attempt to play sick turns into a real virus; instead of her mother staying home to take care of her, Lottie spends the day at home by herself, which in spite of her sore throat and fever, she finds she enjoys, especially after she finds an understanding note from her mother.
Then it's Dad's turn to be laid up; after tripping over the family's unintelligent dog, Fleetwood, and injuring his back, Dad is very reluctantly confined to bed. He and Lottie have never really had much to say to each other, until the day Lottie has a day off from school and spends it with her father. At opposite ends of his bed, they quietly work on separate projects: Dad is catching up on his law-office work and Lottie is making a costume for a school play. They begin passing notes back and forth and in this silent version of a conversation they come to understand each other as they never have before.
Throughout the book, Lottie indulges in daydreams wherein her darker fantasies come to life. She dreams about Kathy being humiliated during Field Day at school, and about running away from home and being adopted by the mayor and his wife.
But it's in the last chapter that Lottie's daydreams go too far. After a huge argument with her brother Phillip, during which she pours oil from a tuna-fish can over his head and he retaliates with a pot of white sauce, Lottie fantasizes about going with Phillip on a school trip to Great Gap, where a rickety swinging bridge falls while Phillip is crossing it, and he breaks his leg. Lottie of course saves him and Phillip and his friends are filled with admiration and respect.
Unfortunately, on his real trip to Great Gap, Phillip falls behind the other hikers, catches his foot between some rocks, and breaks his arm. He is missing overnight and Lottie and her family frantically drive to Great Gap to help search for him. They are all relieved to learn Phillip has been found by the time they arrive, and later that night, Lottie and Phillip make a solemn promise that they will not dream bad dreams about each other, since they know now that they can come true.
The book is often hilariously funny, and Lottie's voice is wonderfully astute and witty for a fourth-grader. I do wish it had been longer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2026
Feb 2026
i find it funny to hear from a 9yo pov. life is difficult with 3 brothers but they completely changed when lotty was bullied by a classmate.
i cant help to relate lotty's life to my youngest. is that how she will feel if im back to work i.e. being an orphan to a mayor and his wife. feeling dismissed by the family.
overall this book is funny.
i find it funny to hear from a 9yo pov. life is difficult with 3 brothers but they completely changed when lotty was bullied by a classmate.
i cant help to relate lotty's life to my youngest. is that how she will feel if im back to work i.e. being an orphan to a mayor and his wife. feeling dismissed by the family.
overall this book is funny.
October 30, 2009
2.5 stars
Sweet book for the recent-readers crowd. I'm less than thrilled about the implication that bad dreams can make bad things happen. While of course most 9-year-old DO think that, it hardly needs reinforcing.
Even so, I'm perfectly happy to have my littlest read it.
Sweet book for the recent-readers crowd. I'm less than thrilled about the implication that bad dreams can make bad things happen. While of course most 9-year-old DO think that, it hardly needs reinforcing.
Even so, I'm perfectly happy to have my littlest read it.
November 29, 2007
It has weird fantasy/dream sequences, and it was the very first book I ever disliked. It's pretty bad, from what I remember.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews