Fetching Dreams by Mary Bleckwehl – Review by Jamie Burns

To me, there are many ways to describe this book, but Mary Bleckwehl used a quote that comes to mind, “Go further than you planned. Ask for the moon: you will be surprised how often you get it.” This book was simply amazing, I have high expectations for the books I read, and expect to be over the moon about them when I finish reading. Many authors have succeeded, including Bleckwehl. This book goes far to the land of Africa where people are still struggling to get education, food, and water. The main character, Neyah has to fetch water, and so she misses so many days at school. She dreams and wishes there was a better way. We get introduced to Abby, Neyah’s pen pal who lives with all of the modern conveniences and cannot imagine what Neyah must be going through. As the two girls correspond, they find strength together. Abby becomes less self centered and quickly cares about Neyah and her family’s situation. Through Abby, Neyah finds the courage to speak up about the water situation and about basic hygiene she is learning about at school. Abby and Neyah decide to team up together to work on a solution for the water problem. There are many struggles that both Neyah and Abby face, but can they find the strength to push through and overcome the struggles? Will Neyah be able to bring much needed CLEAN water to her village? To find out, read this book, Fetching Dreams by Mary Bleckwehl. To say that this book is eye opening, is an understatement, but it is also heart warming at the same time. Who knew how much power pen pals from two different countries could change the world! It goes a long way to say that what you say matters, and so does the way you treat people.