SOLVED. Children's SciFi/ Fantasy, read in 90's. Prophetic dreams written in a dream diary, a bird flying off with a trophy. [s]

[Ann]

I read this as a child in the late 80's or early 90's, almost certainly no later than 1995. It did not strike me as new at the time. It was a chapter book, not a picture book.

There are two boys. One of them starts having prophetic dreams. He writes his dreams down in a dream journal because he realizes that he remembers the details best when he first wakes up. Sometimes he wakes up, writes the details down and then goes back to sleep, so he's a little surprised to read what he writes when he wakes up for real in the morning. There may have been a point where someone wakes him up in the middle of the night specifically so that he'll remember the dream? I think at one point the friend sleeps over to try to help with the dreams.

The dreams are symbolic and hard to interpret, rather than being just watching an event before it happens. One of the dreams seems very ominous at first, a giant bird swooping down and stealing something. Later they realize that it represents the result of a football game. Something like the Eagles Team winning the Turkey Bowl or whatever.

There may have been black and white spot illustrations every once in a while, but I'm not sure.

[Rainbowheart]

The Naming of William Rutherford?

[Ann]

No, it's not a time slip novel. It was contemporary to the time that it was written in (whether that was the 70's, 80's, or early 90's). It takes place in our normal world. It's only sci-fi/fantasy because of the dreams, I think.

[Rainbowheart]

Kinda reminds me of Into the Dream, but the MC had the same dream over and over.

[Taffeta]

Time Explorers, Inc. by E.W. Hildick?

It led to the series The Ghost Squad.

[Capn]

Time Explorers, Inc. for Taffeta's link

There's a YA/MG Dreams list, but it's not very big (I'll get on that..!):
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Ann]

Hmm, Time Explorers, Inc. is a possibility. The title isn't familiar, but the cover is ringing some bells. The single sentence that is the official summary is very vague, but I managed to find the Kirkus review and while it didn't talk about the things I specifically remember, the vibes were on the right track. My local library system doesn't have a copy, but I live in the same state I grew up in, and when I looked at our state-wide book sharing site to see if I could get it from another library system it turned out that the only copy in the state.....is at my childhood library. So that's very promising. I've put it on hold, and I'll check back in once I get my hands on it to confirm if it's the right book or not. Thank you!

[Taffeta]

No prob, Ann! I love connecting with other Hildick enthusiasts. I look forward to hearing about your reaction to the reread (if it is, indeed, Time Explorers).

[Ann]

Getting my hands on a copy of Time Explorers, Inc. turned out to be more difficult than I'd thought, but I finally managed it, and it was definitely the book I was looking for. I had misremembered the Turkey scene - the prophcy was that someone would come and steal the silver trophies out of the case during the Thanksgiving break, not a football game, and my memory of a sleepover was off too, but it's definitely the book I was thinking of based on the turkey scene.