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Book Reviewed by:Where do dreams come from? Two people face their own histories and discover what they can be to one another, renewed by the strength that comes from a tiny, caring creature they will never see.
Where do dreams come from? What stealthy nighttime messengers are the guardians of our most deeply hidden hopes and our half-forgotten fears? Drawing on her rich imagination, two-time Newbery winner Lois Lowry confronts these questions and explores the conflicts between the gentle bits and pieces of the past that come to life in dream, and the darker horrors that find their form in nightmare. In a haunting story that tiptoes between reality and imagination, two people—a lonely, sensitive woman and a damaged, angry boy—face their own histories and discover what they can be to one another, renewed by the strength that comes from a tiny, caring creature they will never see.
In poetically simple words Lowry draws the reader into her story about Littlest One, a trainee dream-giver, assigned to the house of an elderly woman who agrees to foster an "angry boy". Lowry shows us that it's possible to take on big issues such as child abuse without having to resort to gritty detail; instead she paints her story, not with a sugar-coating, but with a gossamer touch so that young children can empathize with the central characters, including the boy and his mother, without being overwhelmed by harsh details...continued
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
As a child, Lois Lowry moved with her
family all over the world (her father
was an army dentist) - as a result,
strong family ties and the leaving
behind of people and places are central
themes to much of her work.
When asked about the inspiration for
Gossamer she replies, "I'm so
interested, always, in how the bits and
pieces of our lives go together, how
they form a narrative, and how important
they are to us. My son died when his
little girl was not yet two. She's
twelve now, and she asks me often, ‘Tell
me stories about my dad when he was
...
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