Classroom Discussion Guide

A guide for teachers looking to enhance their classroom discussions of Dreamland: Young Adult Adaptation.

Dreamland: Young Adult Adaptation

The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

As an adult book, Sam Quinones's Dreamland took the world by storm, winning the NBCC Award for General Nonfiction and hitting at least a dozen Best Book of the Year lists. Now, adapted for the first time for a young adult audience, this compelling reporting explains the roots of the current opiate crisis.

Synopsis

In 1929, in the blue-collar city of Portsmouth, Ohio, a company built a swimming pool the size of a football field; named Dreamland, it became the vital center of the community. Now, addiction has devastated Portsmouth, as it has hundreds of small rural towns and suburbs across America. How that happened is the riveting story of Dreamland. Quinones explains how the rise of the prescription drug OxyContin, a miraculous and extremely addictive painkiller pushed by pharmaceutical companies, paralleled the massive influx of black tar heroin--cheap, potent, and originating from one small county on Mexico's west coast, independent of any drug cartel.

Introducing a memorable cast of characters--pharmaceutical pioneers, young Mexican entrepreneurs, narcotics investigators, survivors, teens, and parents--Dreamland is a revelatory account of the massive threat facing America and its heartland.

Curriculum Planning For Educators

Teaching Survivors of the Opioid Epidemic

Students’ personal experiences with the opioid crisis serve as powerful catalysts for a change-driven curriculum.

Reviews from Teachers

“Dreamland is a book that is so riveting and nuanced that it animates conservative students as much as liberal students. While reading the book, my students engaged in productive discussions about topics ranging from US drug policy to the nature of humankind to the future of public health to why empathy is extended to some communities more than others to how to address issues whose roots are varied. Teachers who are looking to assist students in grappling with complex contemporary issues would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect book than Dreamland."
Matthew Cone, English Teacher, Carrboro High SchoolNorth Carolina

“Dreamland engages students with its objectivity. Quinones does something rare in our era: he sticks to the facts. And the facts of this epidemic are complicated and defy hasty generalizations. Those complexities require students to think critically about this urgent—and for many, personal—crisis."
Christy Ford, English Teacher, Boyd County High SchoolAshland, Kentucky

“Sam Quinones’ Dreamland anchored one of the most powerful and successful units I’ve taught in the past 10 years. Even my reluctant readers couldn’t wait for class to discuss what they were learning. This book afforded me the opportunity to teach rhetoric, narrative, and reading non-fiction skills to students who wanted to know. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for classroom use!"
Melissa Hasebrook, English Teacher, Upper Arlington High School, Ohio

"Sam Quinones’Dreamlandanchored one of the most powerful and successful units I’ve taught in the past 10 years. Even my reluctant readers couldn’t wait for class to discuss what they were learning. This book afforded me the opportunity to teach rhetoric, narrative, and reading non-fiction skills to students who wanted to know. I cannot recommend this book highly enough for classroom use!"
Sean Riley, English Teacher, West Seattle High School, Washington

“You know how there are One School, One Book or One City, One Book campaigns? Well, Dreamland (YA edition) by Sam Quinones should be a candidate for One Country, One Book. It's that good and that meaningful. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as an independent read or as a curriculum connection in a psychology, sociology, economics, marketing, biology, or health class.”
A. Kimmelman, High School Librarian, New Jersey

“It is gripping and horrifying, without glamorizing addiction, striking a difficult balance between engaging and warning young adults...The young adult adaptation of Dreamland is a book that parents should read along with their teens. It is also well-suited to high school social studies course reading and discussion.”
Imaginary Elevators