Jack is the first to start magic dreaming. He learns the art during visits to his Great Granny Georgia. The exploration of this new world requires its own vocabulary and Jack provides a glossary at the start of the book to help the reader understand terms such as Dream Maps, Dream Symbols and Anchor Objects.
One night Jack is astonished to encounter his school friend Evie in a shared dream. Later they are joined by Mouse and Betsy. The four friends learn the secret of meeting up in dreams and together they form the Dream Squad.
Their adventures take a dark turn when they encounter Dream Trapping. This involves locking someone in a dream or nightmare so that they don’t wake up in the ‘real’ world. The person behind this rare but terrifying phenomenon is their ruthless head teacher, Miss Longbottom. She is on a mission to gain power over the children in the school. She is assisted by her black vulture, the most dangerous bird in the dream world and a ‘carrier’ of nightmares.
The Dream Squad is soon immersed in a dangerous and exhilarating quest to free Mr Burley, their chemistry teacher, who has been ‘trapped’ in a dream by Miss Longbottom. To prevent themselves from becoming imprisoned with him they must face and conquer their own personal fears. They soon discover that Miss Longbottom has her own demons, and that these need to be overcome too.