Contemporary urban fantasy sci-fi drama of sorts, with some horror. At least, it contains elements of all of those. To explain, let's start at the beginning. Eccentric 12-year-old Starbright Connor was born to her mentally retarded mother, Esther, and adopted, being raised to think that Esther is actually her older sister. Things in her life are going fine except for a strange mysterious illness called spindle sickness that's going around. The illness causes people to have powerful, realistic-seeming nightmares when they sleep, and to wake up feeling unrested, causing them to be more likely to fall asleep longer the next time only to, again, not feel rested. Over time, the people eventually fall asleep permanently, dying in their sleep.