Book Review: Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue

Lois Lowry

241 Pages

Published in 2000

In her strongest work to date, Lois Lowry once again creates a mysterious but plausible future world. It is a society ruled by savagery and deceit that shuns and discards the weak. Left orphaned and physically flawed, young Kira faces a frightening, uncertain future. Blessed with an almost magical talent that keeps her alive, she struggles with ever broadening responsibilities in her quest for truth, discovering things that will change her life forever.

Gathering Blue is the second installment of the Giver Quartet, a classic series that was finally wrapped up about a year ago. This is my second time reading this one, and it was just as great as I remembered.

Set in a society very similar to that which we saw in The Giver, people are assigned task and such in life and must abide by a certain set of rules. For most people there is no technology or running water. The society is out in the woods, set off from the rest of the world and is more like a village you would have found in times past.

Kira was a great character, someone who beat the odds from the time she was born. She's crippled, not able to perform hard manual labor. In most cases these people are banned from the village, but her mother fights for her and she is allowed to remain. As time goes on she proves her worth with her extraordinary weaving skills; something very important in a society like hers.

Many secrets are kept from the general populace and slowly Kira discovers these and thinks about straying. There is a huge secret revealed at the very end that I hadn't seen coming when I first read the book, but of course knew about this time around. Lois Lowry does a good job of keeping you on your toes, wondering what corrupt part of society you're going to learn about next.

A classic tale that I'll be sure to read to my children (age 3 currently, due in 9 weeks with #2!), over and over again, the Giver quartet is a timeless tale of bravery and beating the odds.

Book Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver

Lois Lowry

240 Pages

Published January 1st, 1993

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community.

 I first read the giver all the way back in 6th grade for my English class, and even back then it captivated me and became my favorite book of all time. I remember searching for more books like it, not yet knowing this was a dystopian - still my favorite book genre, and probably always will be.

Jonas is a member of this society, but he's a little bit different than everyone else. He asks more questions, has more doubts and is generally more curious than other kids in his year, year 11. He also has something called "the sight" that enables him to see things others in his society can't - like colors. I just can't imagine a world without color, it would be so dull that I would go totally insane.

I liked how Jonas was different from everyone else. I remember, even back when I was 12 and reading this for the first time, how upset I felt about everyone in the community being so passive. No one cared or did anything to stop certain things from transpiring - they simple didn't care or question everything. While I know this is how their society has affected them, it still peeves me off just a wee bit.

The Giver was awesome - old and noble, but full of so much pain. I felt so sorry for her, bearing the burden for everybody, when they shouldn't have been expected one frail man to take on all that grief and horror. I also fell in love with baby Gabriel, who was different from the start. I feared for his life at times, especially near the end.

This book is right up there with Harry Potter for me - fantastic and full of everything I like in a story. I have the 20th anniversary set in hardcover that now sits proudly on my shelf for my kids to read once they get a bit older. The daughter is only 3.5 and my son won't come till January - I have a while that I can treasure it as all my own yet. :)