Gossamer

Gossamer

by Lois Lowry

Publisher: Hougton Mufflin Books 2006 140 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction and Dreams

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Littlest One is a fairy-like being who is learning to be a dream giver. They give us dreams by gently touching the objects around us and gleaning fragments of memories and blowing them into our ears and that is how we have good dreams. The nightmares that are inflicting on us come from dream givers that pressed too hard and collected the dark side of memories. These beings are called Sinisteeds. Littlest One and her second teacher, Thin Elderly, are assigned to the home of an old woman who becomes the foster mom to John, a very angry and abused little boy. Littlest and Thin Elderly fight against the Sinisteeds by strengthening John with good dreams after he is repeatedly attacked by the Sinisteeds, due to the fact that he is emotionally vulnerable and his past has so many tragic elements. Littlest and Thin Elderly win against the Sinisteeds and her name is changed to Gossamer when a new Littlest is born.

Response: I loved this book. It gave me a brand new perspective on how dreams are formed. I couldn’t put it down.

Cautionary notes: images of child abuse