ABAW Twofer: Gossamer by Lois Lowry and The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Gossamer by Lois Lowry, Yearling, 2006

A lonely woman fosters a troubled boy. They are both strengthened and healed by the small creatures that bring them dreams in the night. Littlest One is a dream-bringer under the tutelage of Thin Eldest. Each night, the pair visits the house of an old woman. When she takes in John, an angry young survivor of abuse, the skill of the small dream-bringers is tested. John’s vulnerability makes him susceptible to fearsome Sinisteeds, horrifying bringers of nightmares. The dream-bringers build dreams by gently touching the cherished objects of the people they visit: a button, a shell, a family afghan, a photograph, a stuffed animal. John has precious few cherished objects to touch. His time with the old woman changes this. Littlest One cannot stop the Sinisteeds from tormenting John, but with the power of her dreams, she is able to make him stronger, and in the process, to grow in strength and confidence herself. 

This is a sweet, quiet story, occurring over a couple of weeks at the end of one summer vacation. Though the dream-bringers are quite fantastic, the story of the relationships between the people is realistic and touching. Not all is resolved in this story because life is not that simple and the torment John and his mother have suffered is significant. But we do get a sense that each of the three main characters, the old woman, John, and his mother, are set on a road in which they can heal themselves and things will get better. I loved reading this book out loud to all the Sonars. This is a beautiful story to build empathy and to illustrate the importance of dreams and of understanding the story of each person in the world. Perhaps it could also be used as a healing tool for families surviving abuse. 

The Kane Chronicles Book 1: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

In the same spirit, structure, and sense of adventure that Riordan gave to us with the Percy Jackson novels, The Red Pyramid takes us on a ride through Egyptian mythology in the modern world. Carter Kane travels the world with his archaeologist father. They stop in to London once or twice a year to visit Carter’s sister Sophie. She has lived there with their grandparents since the tragic death of their mother. The siblings are beginning to wonder why they’ve been kept separate for so long and just what happened to their mom. Before they can get answers, dad blows up the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, gets entombed in an alternate plane, and releases a handful of Egyptian gods, including the chaos god Set. With the help of a mysterious uncle, a cat-goddess, a baboon, and an albino crocodile, Carter and Sophie have to learn how to use their magic, escape the wizards of the House of Life, and stop Set from blowing up Phoenix.

The Sonars really liked this one and we look forward to reading subsequent books featuring Carter and Sophie.