An Evening with Ryan Elizabeth Penske

***Please note: This event will take place at the Books & Books in Coral Gables at 265 Aragon Ave. Tickets are FREE and books will be available for purchase at the event. Want your copy early or can't make it in-person?

An epic tale of survival, magic, and romance...

Teenage Stella Grey has always felt an intense recurring sense of déjà vu...often plagued by strong dreams that feel more real than her waking moments. One ill-fated morning, her dream from the night before actually comes to life, as she awakens and finds her house ransacked and her mother unconscious near their broken-in front door. Her next moments are scary, shocking, and earth-shattering as she is kidnapped and delivered to a Gothic mansion, The Manor de Rêves.

Over the next few days Stella grapples with where she is and why she was taken. She is trapped by a cast of chilling characters forcing Stella and the other captured, unwilling "recruits", the "Dreamers," to endlessly sleep while The Manor staff forcibly extract their dreams. Dreams that amazingly foretell the future.

Along the way Stella befriends two other Dreamers: Nina, a fiery girl who often refuses orders and her smart yet sheepish companion, Caleb. Stella even comes face to face with one of her own recurring dreams in Charlie, a boy whose blue eyes she has seen before and cannot help but be drawn to.

These four must navigate the eerie experiments the Manor forces upon them while concocting an escape. Their morality and grit are challenged as each of the foursome comes face to face with bizarre dreams that are painting terrifying pictures of the future.

Ryan Elizabeth Penske is a mix of a Midwest and Southern California upbringing, where she discovered her love for snowy Halloweens in Michigan and the everlasting California sun, but most importantly her love for reading in her early teens. Now, after writing her debut YA novel The Dreamers, she looks forward to completing her MA in English Literature from Chapman Universitywhere she received her BA in English Literature, Rhetoric, and Cultural Studies. Between moments of writing and her academic pursuits, Ryan spends her days with her best buddy Indy, her Australian Shepherd. Together they enjoy hiking, going to bookstores, traveling, spending exuberant amounts of time of “BookTok,” and of course dreaming.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables, United States