Not your typical tale. Of course, Lois Lowry and the word, typical, don't go hand-in-hand. Original... Great writer... Risk-taker... Those are words I associate with her. Pick your superlative. But typical? No way. This tale has more echoes of surrealism than realism with surprising juxtapositions of dreams and reality.Littlest is being trained by Fastidious to bestow dreams on humans, and yes, the latter is hard-to-please. Littlest asks too many questions, plays, and is off-task when the two go out each night. Fastidious complains to the Ancient One that Littlest can touch things and absorb memories of humans, but she really is not ready to bestow dreams, a much more demanding job. Littlest is passed onto Thin Elderly, a wise and patient spirit-like being that is able to teach, The Bestowal, to her.The two spirit-beings are in the home of a retired teacher who is in her 70s and has taken in John, an angry 8-year-old foster boy. The beings gather fragments of happy memories from objects around the house and then send them into the sleeping forms of John and the old woman. This gives the two happy dreams and allows them to face the world each day with strength. When the boy starts to recall the horrible abuse inflicted by his father the dreams turn to nightmares and hope turns to despair. Littlest learns, The Bestowal, and she and Thin Elderly fight to hold off The Horde, an evil group of steeds that hiss nightmares into people at night. They are not sure if they can save John.Meanwhile John's mom is trying to get her act together. She abandoned John and he was taken away from her and put into a foster home. We are never told exactly why she left John except that she too, was abused by the father and a mess when they divorced. John's mom gets a job at a school and learns to trust people again just as John has to learn to trust his foster mom. I found the story more interesting in the realistic sections but that isn't surprising given the dream-like, less concrete beings of Littlest and Thin Elderly. The two represent a person's imagination,the fragments of memories, how we are all connected, how a story is like a vague-like dream before taking shape, and whatever other imagery or theme the reader can connect with life. The writing is terrific and John's voice changes from one of distrust, anger and hate to one hesitantly trusting. In contrast, Littlest is innocent, playful, and good. I didn't quite think Strapping and Fastidious moved the plot forward much but I see that they are examples of rigid thinking. Strapping is able to find his potential but Fastidious is stuck in her critical attitude that stifles her imagination and ability to find joy. I wanted to know more about Rotund. I didn't quite understand why he became a Menace. The abuse to John might disturb some readers. He pees on the floor as a three year old and his father rubs his face in it then forces him to eat dog food. When his mom cries, she is hit by the dad. The dad also breaks the boys arm, but no details are given about it. The mom is also a chain smoker with no self-confidence. Like her son, she tries to heal from her painful past. A gossamer is something light, delicate or insubstantial like butterfly wings, cobwebs or dreams. It can be an idea for a story or a fragment of a memory. Lowry has it take the form of what I think of as a spirit-being. Littlest begins as a creature so translucent she can hardly be seen. At the end of the book she is more solid, representing that she has created memories or begun to live and collect "her story." According to Thin Elderly, "everything has a story," but because she was a baby, she was creating one. At the end, she has to leave John and move on. Some students found this sad. There is much that can be discussed about the content in this book. The abstract concepts might make it difficult for young readers to grasp the meanings Lowry is trying to convey. I think that is why I get mixed reactions from students who have read this book. While I was reading it I was reminded of Franz Kafka's short story, "The Country Doctor," that is written as a nightmare and experiments with punctuation. I'm glad Lowry kept to traditional conventions. An atypical book. Enjoy!Reading Level 5.4
Okay,This one was truly a child's book. The print was GINORMOUS (aka gigantically enormous. hugantic? hah) boldface and the book was only 144 pages but I struggled to finish this book. Boring as crap. I have an issue swallowing words like 'flutter' and 'shimmer' and 'twirling'when they are being used repeatedly ...oh and the ridiculous names (oldest one, littlest one, fastidous)...Back to the book review. There are these little fairy like creatures (forgot what they are called) that come into your room at night and touch all your stuff (starting to sound like Robert Goulet in the Emerald Nuts commercial huh) to gather "good" fragments. Then they hover over your orrifices and jangle around until these fragments come out as shimmers which gives you good dreams. The fairies that touch your stuff too hard? They become Something-steeds. Think of those horse riders in Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings. Yup they come stampeding in and do something to your face to give you bad dreams.So anyway this old lady and her dog fosters this young boy who was abused by his drunkard father until his mother can get custody of him again. Kid stops being a hellion, and the mom gets him back in the end. Littlest Something fairy saves him from the Something-steeds and is renamed Gossamer, for her gentle touch when touching people's stuff to make dreams, and another fairy is 'born' and named Littlest Something-or-the-other. But are these fairy things human? No! They exist in your mind in a place called the Heap (the Hive?). Something that starts with an H.This books reads like a bad acid trip (well at least what I'd imagine one would look like). I was expecting a lot better than the lady who wrote Number the Stars and The Giver (books that mark the middle schoolers rite of passage into high school).I only finished b/c I have a pet peeve with checking out a book and not reading it (that and I was NOT about to be bested by a child's book).Somebooks can be in the YA section and speak to people of all ages. This book, however, was equivolant to the torture having to sit and watch the PBS KIDS Sprout Network with my little cousins or nephews.
What do You think about Gossamer (2006)?
This weekend I had a lot of mundane chores to take care of, so for a treat, I downloaded the audiobook of Lois Lowry's new(ish) book, Gossamer. For almost a year now, every time I've gone to the library, I've looked for Gossamer. Every single time, it's been checked out. This is a good thing.Fuse #8 wrote about Gossamer when it first came out, and she had this to say about Ms. Lowry (to which I'd like to add an emphatic my feelings exactly):"Lois Lowry is my comfort blanket. When you pick up a Lois Lowry book (and it really doesn't matter if it was Anastasia Krupnik or the book I will discuss with you now) you are blessed with the knowledge that this book will fufill the following requirements: It will be good. It will be interesting. It will be wholly original...Her books are perfectly thought out little worlds."I don't dare say too much about Gossamer for fear of spoiling the quiet feeling of awe and wonder as it unfolds. Besides, there are already a lot of good, detailed reviews out there. But this is a lovely, delicate story about our most ethereal possessions: our dreams. How our lives not only inform what we dream, but what we dream can shape our lives.The story itself follows the "dream-keepers" as they bestow dreams on a boy, his foster parent, and his mother. It's a beautiful mix of fantasy and realism, of soft, gossamer touches and rough edges.The publisher pegs this book for ages 9-12, but I also think that younger children (6-8) would really enjoy and connect with it as a read-aloud (with a reassuring parent to help through the boy's troubled past). And if you've ever been a fan of Lois Lowry's work, you'll enjoy it no matter what your age. :)Here's a short interview with Lois Lowry about the book at Kidsreads.com.And here's a terrific interview at Writer Unboxed about writing, photography, and the importance of human connections. Plus, answers to lots of questions from "an enthusiastic 6th grade reading class."This review was originally posted at Please Come Flying.
—Josephine
I read this book a week ago and I have been pondering it almost every day since then. It is a very quick read and an uplifting story. Thank you, Anut Jeanie, for recommending it.:)I finished this book in the middle of the night (when else do I read, really?) and I felt awash with gratitude for my family and life. I'm glad I took the time to read. This is another story that will stick with me and inform the way I look at the world. I hope that it will keep my perspective kind.I don't know how Ms. Lowry does it, but I'm impressed. There were layers of story in this book and it was a rich tale told in simple, clear prose. I enjoyed reading it and getting to know the characters within the pages. I was touched by the characters' struggles and celebrated the good things.I hope to someday be like the old woman in this story. She is so patient and kind and good. She seems to know what to do but does not seem unreal or fake like so many paragons in stories do. She is real AND good. Another role model for me...
—Charity
Littlest One is the newest Dream Giver in her heap. Playfull, laughing, and barely visible she lightly touches the handful of things in a little boy's room, crafting dreams to send him each night. Gossamer is a beautiful story filled with wonder, hope and love. Lowry has done a brilliant job with her writing and every part of the story is perfect and well crafted. This is a fun and quick read that is somehow as dreamy and intangible as the title. It left me smiling and glad to have read it. A perfect story to sink into at the end of a long day. I listened to the audiobook version of this story. It was very well produced and read.
—Tapestrymlp
