In My Dreams

By James T. Durkin

Book Overview

?In my dreams is a fictional story about a young man who gets elected President at the age of 29. More importantly, it's an opportunity for young people to believe in their political system and to get involved in their communities.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0759646066
• ISBN13: 9780759646063
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: 1st Book Library
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A FUN READ

Partially autobiographical and partially fictional, this book introduces readers to the main character, Bob Hamlin, as he is struggling with his identity. Hamlin faces many challenges of a young adolescent turned college student, from physical problems with acne to peer pressure for parties and excessive drinking. He enters college as a undefined major, a not unusual occurrence, and struggles to find what interests him most while at the same time, fighting pressure from his parents to "pick a major". In making these decisions, Hamlin falls asleep and dreams about approximately the next decade of his future. In his dreams, Hamlin introduces the reader to a myriad of political topics in an enlightening and easy reading manner: how to run a campaign, term limits, political ethics and honesty, the value of incumbency, inequities in educational financing, voter turnout and electioneering laws. He also introduces the reader to the challenges of being a college student, away from home for the first time, whose friends want him "to have a good time" and whose professors "expect nothing but the best". Hamlin has to decide for himself the path he will take. He begins his political career by running and winning a race for the U.S. Congress at age 25 but then is catapulted into a race for the Presidency at age 29. While the latter is currently constitutionally impossible, it is made possible in this book by amending the U.S. Constitution to prevent age discrimination based on youth. This brings up an interesting and controversial point for discussion as the Age Discrimination Act currently only protects the older citizen. This book is an excellent introduction to incoming college students on the demands of higher education as well as a stellar supplementary text for courses on critical thinking and/or politics and government. People who do not know a lot about the political system but who are interested in learning stand to gain much from this book.