Gossamer by Lois Lowry

This is a book that answers the question, "Where do dreams come from." In this story dreams come from little beings who flit around your room at night and gather fragments of your memories that they then "bestow" on you as a dream. The enemies of the dream givers are the terrible Sinisteeds, the wild horse like creatures that bring nightmares. Littlest One is a dream giver in training, and with the help of Tall Elderly, she tries to help a boy who has been the victim of abuse overcome his anger and learn to love his gentle foster grandmother.  This is really two stories.  The story of the dream givers is all about mentoring and coming of age.  The story of John and his mother is about dealing with and overcoming the scars of abuse. Lowry weaves the two stories together gently and beautifully.  This would be a good story for a even a young child who is either dealing with abuse themselves, or has a friend who is dealing with those problems. I think the book has an unfortunate cover.  I think the cover is a little creepy and makes it look like a book for teens or tweens. In reality, even with its difficult theme, it is appropriate for children as young as 7 or 8 years old. (140 p)