I'm feeling very accomplished today. Wanna know why? Because I read Lois Lowry's newest book, and I didn't cry! I don't think I've ever read a Lois Lowry book and not bawled like a baby.

So the book that I narrowly avoided crying over is called Gossamer. It's about Littlest One, and her teacher Thin Elderly who are dream givers. Dream givers are tiny beings assigned to a house to touch various objects around the place and then give dreams to the inhabitants. The inhabitants of this particular house are a rather lonely old lady and her dog Toby. Until John comes. John is eight years old, and very angry, with an abusive past. At first Littlest has a hard time finding good things to give to John for dreams, but she digs deep and gets the job done, defeating the Horde of Sinisteeds, terrible beasts that bring nightmares.

This book is nothing short of wonderful, thanks to Lowry's skills. I think her accomplishment is all the more impressive because I can see how this story could have been terrible if handled differently. Littlest One and the other dream givers are so dear, that the book could easily have been overly saccharine. Thank goodness for Lois Lowry!

Gossamer by Lois Lowry
ISBN 0618685502
140 pages