Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry
Delacorte Press

Also by the Author:
The Giver
Messenger
Number the Stars (tween)
Gossamer (tween)


Summary: 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.

Personal Review: The mystery of this civilization kept me reading. I wanted to find out what was going to happen to Kira and Thomas, and what had happened to these mysterious people who were taken to “the Field” and taken by “the beasts”—especially since many people started saying there weren’t any beasts. I also thought it was an appropriate metaphor that the beasts were actually human beings, acting like animals. An interesting book.

Cautionary Notes: None unless talk of death would bother someone.