Gossamer: Summary, Reflection, Peer Review, & Library Use
Title: Gossamer
Author: Lois Lowry
Book Summary: A dreamgiver is a magical creature that collects the pleasant, up-lifting memories of a human with a gossamer touch, a very light flickering of their fingers, then uses them to bestow positive life affirming dreams on humans during the night. When a dreamgiver lingers too long while collecting the memories, they turn menacing, because when you linger too long you may collect memories that are bad. When this happens, they become a Sinisteed. A Sinisteed takes the shape of an evil renegade stallion and seeks out humans who are troubled to deliver bad dreams, nightmares. This what Littlest the young dreamgiver has been learning. Guided by Fastidious then Thin Elderly he learns how to use the gossamer touch to gather pleasant memories from everyday objects. One of the houses they visit is where an older Woman lives who recently has decided to take in a foster child, John. John comes to the foster home angry and full of hurt, but with the caring and patient heart of the Woman he begins to trust again. The healing can be set back when Littlest and Thin Elderly learn the Sinisteeds are planning a group attack, a Horde, to deliver bad dreams to John and the Woman. They are now intent on delivering as many positive fragments they can to protect and build them up so they do not falter from the effects of the Horde. Thin Elderly will bestow dreams on the Woman and Littlest will take care of John. The night the Horde decides to attack, Littlest continues his work but barely escapes at the last minute by hiding under the bead. Littlest and Thin Elderly stay nearby waiting for the Horde to leave then returned to the Woman and John to repair the damage. Spent of his ability to flutter, Littlest stands right beside the boys bed willing him courage, then joins Thin Elderly to do the same for the Woman. It worked!
It was not long till school started. John will start to attend 3rd grade in the elementary school nearby and his mother is grateful for the new job she has in the office there. His mother is now able to come for visits and soon he will be able to go home with her but the bond he has formed with the Woman will last forever. She is his new surrogate grandmother.
Littlest and Thin Elderly return to the group of dreamgivers and Littlest has now grown, so she now longer needs guidance but cam deliver dreams on her own. It is not long till she receives a New Littlest to train and groom into a Dreamgiver with a gossamer touch.
APA Reference:
Lowry, L. (2006). Gossamer. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Impression: Gossamer has elements of both realism and fantasy which make it a terrific novel to introduce readers new to the genre. It would be difficult to find a reader who cannot connect to having a bad dream and a good dream. Not only do the characters behave in a reasonable and expected way the author makes the impossible seem possible in this imaginative story. Gossamer is a heartwarming read that I would recommend for grades 4-8, but be aware that John was placed in foster care when he was removed from his home due to an abusive father. This is not dwelled on too much, yet some things readers learn about John’s prior home life may perplex them. They do achieve closure with the new home his mom has created and the job she has acquired. Regardless, this offers an opportunity to discuss difficulties some children face in our country and in others thus building compassion and understanding. The sentence structure and spacing make this novel and easy read that will appeal to reluctant readers and intrigue avid readers.
Professional Review:
Littlest One, known as Littlest, is a trainee dream-giver, learning to move softly through houses and pick up fragments of the inhabitants' lives, in order to bestow dreams upon them. Her charge is eight-year-old John, taken into roster care because of his father's abuse and suffering the visits of a Sinisteed, a former dream-giver now turned nightmare-inflicted. The focus of the story alternates between Littlest, undergoing a crash course in dream giving so that she may help John quickly, and John, who resists the unconditional acceptance of his foster mother by pushing the limits of every rule she sets. The world of the dream-givers and Sinisteeds is imaginatively created, with a lyrical and delicate style appropriate to its subject matter. The delicacy sometimes becomes coy and mannered, though, and the fantasy world overshadows the growing relationship between John and his unnamed foster mother. I he human story is also heavy handed; the rescue drama is fairly hackneyed (and John's caretaker is a pretty unrealistic foster parent in her naiveté), and the maturation and healing of the characters is conveyed through their lengthy discussions of the subject rather than through the book's demonstration of their growth. Nonetheless, the novel effectively evokes the flimsy and sometimes tentative grasp on happiness and comfort in a way many readers will understand. Although the sentimental happy ending is expected, it will still be welcomed tor both John and Littlest, who each gain new insight into themselves, the goodness of others, and the ways in which darkness can be combated through love.
Spisak, A. (2006, July/August). [Review of the book Gossamer by Lowry, L.]. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 59(11), 507. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/bcc.2006.0510
Library Uses: Place students in small groups of 2 or 3 and provide supplies to make dream catchers. On small strips of paper they can record important events in the story and weave them into the yarn wrapped around the ring to create the dreamcatcher. Instead of important events, you could use story elements and/or theme.