In 1904 New York City, Coney Island's newest amusement park, Dreamland, has just opened. Kitty Hayward and her mother arrive by steamer from South Africa, but Kitty's mother suddenly takes ill. Their hotel doctor sends Kitty across town to get medicine, but when she returns, her mother has disappeared and Kitty is forced out of the hotel. Alone and wandering the boardwalk, Kitty meets some of the members of Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet. These people, who call themselves Unusuals, take Kitty under their wing and try to help her figure out what happened to her mother. However, at the same time, something awful is starting to spread through Coney Island, placing everyone under quarantine. Soon, the Unusuals discover that helping Kitty is the least of their problems, and that the most important thing now is survival.
This is an interesting combination of real history, some real history from other places added in, and a mix of characters who feel like they could have been pulled straight from history, as well. The author did a lot of research into Coney Island and the history of places like Magruder's and this is reflected in the story. The author's notes at the end of the book are really interesting, and I appreciated how she explains how she took things from history and blended them together in this story. Circuses, carnivals and amusement parks have long held a fascination for me, so I already had some knowledge about Dreamland and places like Magruder's (the link I've got here is to a great article about the history of Dreamland and includes photos and videos). Wood includes real elements of Dreamland in her story, such as Midgetland, and some of the daily performances in the park.
Dreamland, however, is just the setting that brings together people who probably wouldn't have encountered each other otherwise. And to me, it's the people, and how they come together to help each other, that really makes this a great story. Sure, I find the setting and historical elements to be fascinating, but I found it was the characters who stuck out in my mind. I appreciated that Wood wrote people in a realistic way, and developed those characters. The focus also just solely on Kitty and her predicament; instead, you get a much fuller story of a number of different people. These people are an unlikely group of friends who are thrown together out of circumstance, whether it's working at the Curiosity Cabinet, being a part of Dreamland, or a chance encounter. The dynamics between them felt very real, as did the dynamics between these people and the people on the outside of Dreamland, who frequently viewed people such as those at Magruder's as "freaks."
One of the things I also want to mention is that the author doesn't shy away from realistic details of the illness that starts to sweep through Coney Island. I won't say more than that, but I appreciated that this also felt very realistic.
This is a good story to pair with Alice Hoffman's book, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, which is also based on real places, people and events.
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