Saturday, November 04, 2006

Gossamer
by Lois Lowry
(Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Sweet dreams or nightmares—and such are the stuff of dreams as Lowry introduces readers to the dream-givers who creep around dark houses at night, collecting memories which they then bestow upon the humans as they dream, and their counterparts, the wicked Sinisteeds who give nightmares and sometimes travel in Hordes.

Littlest is enthusiastic about her work; Fastidious is tired and impatient, not at all a good match for a trainer and a trainee. Littlest only wants to collect more, hoping to give pleasant dreams to the old woman who lives with her dog, Toby, in the house where Littlest is assigned, but Fastidious won’t hear of it. Then Littlest is paired with a new partner, Thin Elderly, who is a much better guide and teacher. When the old woman takes in a foster child, John, who wants to return to his mother, Littlest might be the only one who can help them all bring their best dreams into reality.

Young readers might be confused at first by the alternating points of view.

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