The Dream-Maker's Magic

Shinn, Sharon. The Dream-Maker's Magic. I didn't realize that this was the third in this YA trilogy until I started this review and noticed the blurb on the inside flap. No problem, though, the book can stand alone.

Unlike the previous works I've read by Shinn, this is a very quiet tale about the two young people whose friendship gives them the strength to survive and grow in a positive way in spite of their personal circumstances. It is a novel about the small miracles of friendship and kindness that can create the larger miracles that enable us to make the most of our lives.

Kellen's mother insists she is a boy and her obsessive behavior finally causes her husband to abandon them. He continues to send funds when he can, but he can't live with the strange obsession. While Kellen deals with the problem of her mother's behavior and her own strange position in society, she is befriended first by a teacher whose interference enables her to attend school where she meets Gryffin, a boy who must live with pain and twisted legs. The two children form a life-long friendship and provide support for each other through the trials they must endure. Kellen and Gryffin are fortunate to find each other and to find that there are other caring people who offer opportunities and sanctuary.

Although there are disturbed, selfish, and cruel people in this world, Kellen and Gryffin are fortunate to meet, befriend, and be befriended by a number of people whose kindness creates ripples around them.

There are also some magical characters: a Safe-Keeper, a Truth-Teller, and a Dream-Maker who provide their services, but the real magic is in each individual.

Fiction. YA. Fantasy. 2006. 261 pages.