Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Did you ever wonder where dreams come from? How about nightmares? In her latest book, Lois Lowry takes us into the world of the dream-givers. Littlest One, a young dream-giver, is learning how to "touch" and "collect" fragments. Soon she will learn how to "bestow" dreams on her "assignments". We join Littlest on her assignment, with her teacher Thin Elderly. They bestow dreams on an old woman and a young boy by touching objects and giving them happy thoughts while they sleep. Littlest is learning how to be a dream-giver and she is full of questions for Thin Elderly. One of her biggest questions is about the Sinisteed - the ones that "inflict" nightmares. When a Sinisteed cannot inflict on their own, they come as a group called the Horde. Littlest and Thin Elderly work hard to bestow as many dreams on their charges to strengthen them and to help them ward off the Horde. The fantasy world of the dream-givers seems so real, you feel you are part of the story. This was a tough book to put down, it is a definite page turner. Check out the Kidsread.com entry about this fascinating world.