Gathering Blue (Readers Circle)
by Lois Lowry
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lois LowryEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-09-10
ISBN: 0440229499
Number of pages: 224
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780440229490
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of Gathering Blue (Readers Circle)
Book Review: Worthy companion to The Giver
Summary: 4 Stars
Lowry creates a dystopic society in The Giver, and Gathering Blue represents an extension of this same type of existence. Similar to The Giver, Gathering Blue establishes a world of hidden pasts, societal rules and laws, and mystery. It's up to the main character, Kira, to both define and rebel from the established norms because conformity can sometimes lead to a degenerative world rather than a productive one. In her society, maybe a little less identifies than Jonas' in The Giver, the weak are cast aside in various modes--being sent to the "forest" to fend for themselves, or worse, becoming completely obsolete.
Kira, a girl with a twisted leg who is left orphaned after her mother dies, becomes the target of Vandara, a sinister character who wants to see Kira sent out of their society. Vandara has ulterior motives: she wants Kira's family's land, and she probably is jealous of the girl's inner strength and wants her gone. Meeting with the Council of Guardians, who decide individual fates, Kira is allowed to offer a new role in society: to complete weaving a robe for the Singer (of the "Ruin" song). In this way, Kira is completing the job her mother started, and she uses guidance from her mother's words to help her become successful in her new job. She reflects on her mother's advice: "Take pride in your pain. You are stronger than those who have none." Kira draws strength and perseverance from her ailment as well as her background, and as she befriends Matt and Thomas, she comes to understand that she can gain intuition about the world from her cloth and from the robe. As she pieces together the new robe, her intuition reveals a past society embedded with violence and war, which are revealed in the patterns. She also uncovers some mysteries about what goes beyond this society, and realizes that things and events aren't always what they appear to be. Are there really "beasts" out there? Was her father really taken by beasts? What does the future hold, and how will Kira use her gift? These are questions Kira explores.
One moral presented is the idea that everyone possesses some kind of gift, forte, or trait that they can use to help better society. Kira, Thomas and the Singer are all look at as being the artists of this community because they have traits which will help to shape the future. Looking past the physical defects of individuals, and understanding what qualities they bring, seems to be the one message of the novel.
Over all, I thought Gathering Blue quite a powerful and interesting read. Although marketed as a young adult book, Gathering Blue can be read by older adults. It has deep philosophy within its easy to read nature. I probably enjoyed The Giver a little bit more, but Gathering Blue is certainly a worthy companion to this book.
Summary of Gathering Blue (Readers Circle)
Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a task that no other community member can do. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world and see what places exist beyond.Lois Lowry's magnificent novel of the distant future, The Giver, is set in a highly technical and emotionally repressed society. This eagerly awaited companion volume, by contrast, takes place in a village with only the most rudimentary technology, where anger, greed, envy, and casual cruelty make ordinary people's lives short and brutish. This society, like the one portrayed in The Giver, is controlled by merciless authorities with their own complex agendas and secrets. And at the center of both stories there is a young person who is given the responsibility of preserving the memory of the culture--and who finds the vision to transform it.
Kira, newly orphaned and lame from birth, is taken from the turmoil of the village to live in the grand Council Edifice because of her skill at embroidery. There she is given the task of restoring the historical pictures sewn on the robe worn at the annual Ruin Song Gathering, a solemn day-long performance of the story of their world's past. Down the hall lives Thomas the Carver, a young boy who works on the intricate symbols carved on the Singer's staff, and a tiny girl who is being trained as the next Singer. Over the three artists hovers the menace of authority, seemingly kind but suffocating to their creativity, and the dark secret at the heart of the Ruin Song.
With the help of a cheerful waif called Matt and his little dog, Kira at last finds the way to the plant that will allow her to create the missing color--blue--and, symbolically, to find the courage to shape the future by following her art wherever it may lead. With astonishing originality, Lowry has again created a vivid and unforgettable setting for this thrilling story that raises profound questions about the mystery of art, the importance of memory, and the centrality of love. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell
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