Gossamer

Lois Lowry’s Gossamer (2006) is a middle grade fantasy novel that explores the world of dreams and the fragile boundary between reality and imagination. The story follows Littlest One, a young dream-giver in training, and her mentor, Thin Elderly, as they weave dreams for a troubled boy named John and his elderly caretaker. As Littlest One learns the intricacies of her role, she must also confront the Sinisteeds, creatures that bring nightmares. Through its gentle narrative and rich symbolism, Gossamer explores The Healing Power of Happy Memories, The Role of Empathy and Compassion in Addressing Trauma, and The Journey of Personal Growth and Resilience. The novel won a Parents’ Choice Award and was nominated for the Cybils Award. Other works by Lowry include Number the Stars, The Silent Boy, and Gooney Bird Greene.

This study guide uses the e-book edition of the novel, published in 2006 by Houghton Mifflin.

Content Warning: The source material contains depictions of child abuse, domestic violence, and alcohol use disorder.

Plot Summary

Littlest One is a dream-giver in training. The young entity’s playful, inquisitive nature exasperates her teacher, Fastidious, so another dream-giver named Thin Elderly offers to train her instead. By touching objects that belong to humans, dream-givers gather fragments of memories which they then use to create dreams. This is a delicate process, and the act of bestowing a dream on a human or their pet is intensely difficult. If a dream-giver becomes too deeply entangled in the memories they gather, they can turn into menacing entities known as Sinisteeds which give people nightmares.

The house to which Thin Elderly and Littlest One are assigned is the home of an elderly woman who is all alone except for her dog, Toby. Thin Elderly teaches his student how to give people dreams. In the first dream that Littlest One ever bestows, the old woman relives her memory of kissing a young soldier back when she was a girl. The woman awakens with a feeling of happiness the next morning. She decides to take in an eight-year-old boy named John.

John’s mother is a survivor of domestic abuse. A dream-giver named Strapping exerts himself to find positive memories that he can turn into pleasant dreams for her. The young woman hopes to reunite with her son once she has built a life for herself, and she is in counseling and looking for a job. She asks a social worker to tell John that she loves him and that she had a dream about him.

In his previous foster homes, John was hit by adults and other children, and his traumatic experiences have led him to view the world with hatred and distrust. He immediately dislikes the woman, and he is unkind to Toby. The Sinisteeds choose John as their victim and prepare to converge as a Horde. The dream-givers’ leader, Most Ancient, detects signs of the Sinisteeds’ motions and warns the dream-givers to be vigilant. Meanwhile, the elderly woman works patiently to earn John’s trust. One night, a Sinisteed gives John a nightmare about his father, and the woman soothes him back to sleep. The next morning, John is deliberately hurtful to the woman, but she remains patient with him.

Littlest One is worried about John, and Thin Elderly tells her that they must give the boy as many good dreams as possible so that he’ll be stronger when the Sinisteed returns. John joins the woman and Toby on their daily walk. After she tells him that Toby was abandoned as a puppy, the boy begins to treat the dog with kindness. The Sinisteeds continue to inflict nightmares on John every night, and he only possesses a few belongings that hold positive memories. Littlest One senses that John loves Toby, and she proposes gathering fragments from the dog even though dream-givers are taught not to gather memories from living things. Although Thin Elderly has some concerns about the plan, he agrees because the situation is urgent and Littlest One has a delicate touch. Littlest One gathers happy memories from Toby without waking the dog, and she uses them to give John restful sleep and a happy dream. Thin Elderly informs Most Ancient that he gave his student permission to break a rule, and the leader agrees that she had a good reason.

John’s mother continues to work to get her life in order so that her son can return to her, and Strapping’s dreams give her hope for her future. She finds a job at a school working with students’ records, and she imagines John making friends at the school.

The Sinisteeds’ attacks become less frequent thanks to Littlest One and Thin Elderly’s efforts. One day, John tells the woman about a traumatic incident when his father abused him at age three. That night, Littlest One and Thin Elderly hear a Horde of Sinisteeds coming for the boy and the woman. The Horde gives John and the woman nightmares about the trauma the boy has experienced, but the dream-givers help them overcome the nightmares and have happy, empowering dreams instead.

John’s mother enrolls him in third grade at the school where she works. The boy will be able to see her at school each day, but he’ll stay with the elderly woman for a while as his mother continues to put her life together. Most Ancient honors Littlest One’s growth and courage by entrusting her with the new littlest dream-giver and by giving her the name Gossamer.