The Dream-Web Diary of Gwenevere Stoker by Laura Stoddard

5 Stars

Gwenevere Stoker is a lonely young girl, haunted by an accident that changed her life two years before. Every night she escapes into her dreams, grateful for the break from her miserable reality. Until she discovers that someone is infiltrating her Dream-Web (the place where all her dreams reside) and stealing her Dream Orbs. She must find out who is wreaking havoc on her dreams, while learning to face her past.

This was an interesting read. The author is very imaginative, and her descriptions of the dreams have just the right balance of reality and bizarreness that they feel very much like real dreams. However, I found the book a little too graphic for younger readers (Gwen is supposed to be 12, so I assume the book is geared to that age-group; I think it would be too much for anyone younger than that), and not well-written enough to appeal to a much older audience. I also found it somewhat heavy-handed in the handling of some of the more mature themes, and was a little put off by the apparently unconsidered ramifications of the actions of a couple of characters. If you are interested in dreams as a topic, you will find it an intriguing read, but I wouldn't otherwise recommend it.

Gossamer by Lois Lowry

7 Stars

"Where do dreams come from? What stealthy nighttime messengers are the guardians of our most deeply hidden hopes and our half-forgotten fears? Drawing on her rich imagination, two-time Newbery Medal winner Lois Lowry confronts these questions and explores the conflicts between the gentle bits and pieces of the past that come to life in dream and the darker horrors that find their form in nightmare. In a haunting story that tiptoes between reality and imagination, two people--a lonely, sensitive woman and a damaged, angry boy--face their own histories and discover what they can be to each other, renewed by the strength that comes from a tiny, caring creature they will never see." (Taken from inside cover.)

This was a very imaginative, if very brief, read. The concept of tiny fairy-like people bestowing dreams--as well as their awful, sweating and snorting counterparts, the Sinisteeds, who inflict nightmares--was very unique. And Lowry's treatment of it, if a tad over-simplistic, is interesting. This is a book that I would feel comfortable recommending to a fairly young audience (as young as 8, I think), though there are some intense references to a physically abusive husband/father. It is a simple book, but I have to admit that I totally cried in a couple of spots.