Momotaro Xander and the Dream Thief

By: Margaret Dilloway

Narrated by: Chris Patton

Xander Miyamoto should be feeling great. It's the beginning of summer vacation, his mother has returned from a long absence, and he has learned that he is Momotaro, a warrior with special powers. But instead of reveling in it all, Xander is plagued by questions and nightmares. To chase at least the nightmares away, Xander's grandmother gives him a special baku charm - but he must not to rely on it too much. If he does, the baku will take the dreams of everyone in the house away forever. And, if that happens, there will be no hope, no imagination, and no Momotaro - which would make it far too easy for Ozuno, the king of the monstrous and chaotic oni, to wreak havoc on the world.

©2017 Margaret Dilloway (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Another fun adventure

It's now been a few months since Xander's adventure on Monster Island, his mom is back, and Jinx is living with them since she doesn't know where her mom is. Things should be great but they're not. Xander is being plagued by bad dreams. Trying to help, his grandmother provides him with a baku charm designed to take away his bad dreams. Though she warns him not to use it too much, he comes to rely on it in order to sleep. And everything seems fine until the day he wakes up and his family are all doing great impressions of couch potatoes. While Xander was getting some dreamless sleep, the baku was also taking the dreams of his family, and with those dreams with their motivations to do anything. Will Xander be able to get their dreams back before it's too late?

It was nice to read this story, which focuses on the growing pains Xander has with this Momotaro powers and focuses especially on how his difficulties affect his friends and family. In particular, Xander is dealing with a lot of anger, which he keeps rationalizing away as normal instead of facing it head on. While many new superheroes have some growing pains with their powers, it's not often that we get a story that focuses on those specifically. It was nice to see. Even when I was getting frustrated with Xander's actions, it was easy to understand why he was doing them and why they were going to end up being counter-productive.

As in the first book, we also see just how important Xander's friends and family members are to him. This is especially true when he is faced with a choice from Princess Kaguya. When faced with what seems like an impossible choice, Xander makes the one that will protect his friends and family. Of course, those relationships go both ways, and we also get to see how much Xander's friends and family members care for him.

Even though it's been several years since this book was published, I do hope the author continues the series. I would like to continue reading more stories with Xander and his friends. After all, I doubt the oni are just going to stop trying to cause trouble. LOL.

The audiobook was again narrated by Chris Patton, who again delivers a wonderful performance. I had to make myself stop listening when it was time for me to do something else, which I find is the mark of a great story. So, whether you choose to read or listen to this book, I think you will enjoy it.