"Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry

Yet another favorite of mine. Gathering Blue is set in the same universe as The Giver, but Kira lives in a very different world than Jonas. Kira is lucky to be alive. She was born with a twisted leg and as she was perceived to be a burden on society, the rest of the community wanted to be rid of her. However, her mother knew that Kira was strong and fought to keep her daughter. The book is set many years later. Kira's mother has recently died. Once again, she is faced with those that want to push her out of the community, but this time is rescued by the Council of Edifice. She is known for her skill with threads and is put to the task of restoring the Singer's robe. Each year, the Singer shares the story of the past with the robe and a special staff. She meets Thomas who is responsible for the staff. Also in her life is Matt, a poor boy that has a lot of spirit but also gets into a lot of mischief. As time goes on, Kira begins to realize that there is more going on than meets the eye and that everything is not what she has been raised to believe.

I really love this book. It's not quite as good as The Giver, but I enjoy it more than Messenger or Son (though it is nice of the series to have conclusion). For the most part, Gathering Blue can be read as a stand alone, though I think I appreciated it more because I read it after reading The Giver. Though Kira's existence is completely different from Jonas', her journey is not so dissimilar. Like Jonas, Kira comes to discover that society has been lying to her and those around her. She begins to see the world through new eyes and starts to work towards changing it. I feel like I highly recommend a lot of books but this is one that I feel very strongly about. If you have read The Giver, I strongly suggest finishing out the quartet. And even if you haven't read/liked it, I still suggest this title. It is similar enough content wise, but still feel that it has it's own unique voice and can appeal to many readers.



Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Son" by Lois Lowry

I fail as a book blogger because I had no clue that Lois Lowry was releasing this novel!  It showed up at my library and it took me a second to fully grasp what I was holding in my hands.  I thought that Messenger was the conclusion to TheGiver series (though I did once think that about Gathering Blue.  Oh, and that The Giver was going to be a stand-alone novel.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if a fifth novel gets released).  Anyways, I picked this up and pretty much didn’t put it back down until I had finished it.  Even so, I have mixed emotions about this novel. 

It is broken up into three parts and I loved the first portion.  It opens with Claire giving birth to her first and what will become her only Son.  Though she was selected to be a birthmother, the birth goes wrong and her baby is delivered via c-section.  She is eventually reassigned to another job in the community.  Though she has never had a moment with her child, she cannot stop thinking about him and manages to begin volunteering at the nurturing center as a way to spend time with him.  When I started this book I assumed that Claire was Jonas’ mother (having forgotten that Gabe also had odd colored eyes) so it took me a little bit to get reacquainted with the story once I realized whose story I was reading.  If you have read The Giver, then you know that Jonas and Gabe leave the community.  So what happens to Claire?  That is the focus of the second portion of the book and the third focuses on Gabe as a young man (trying so hard not spoil anything here!).

I was really into the first section of the book.  It was really interesting to see the life of someone else in Jonas’ community.  But once I got through the first third of the book I began to lose interest.  I’m not sure if it was because it felt odd to be somewhere in this universe that I hadn’t visited before or if the rest of the novel was lacking some of the love and dedication I found in the first three novels.  I certainly felt like the last section of the book was very abrupt.  I got to spend so much time with Clair and baby Gabe but so little time with Gabe once he was an adult and even less time with the conclusion of the novel.  This book easily could have been longer.  It felt like that was far too much buildup for that short of an ending. 

Even though I feel this way, I have to recommend this book.  The Giver is one of those that I feel HAS to be on everyone’s reading lists.  I am stunned when I come across someone that hasn’t read this book.  The advantage of this is I then get to recommend it to them (whilst hopping up and down with excitement and stacking all three-now four- books into their arms).  If you have read any of the books in this quartet (and enjoyed them of course), then you really should finish out the series.  And you never know, this series may very well turn into a quintet.

Happy Reading!
-Melly