"Gathering Blue"

I have totally been missing out on my blog. Readers, I promise I will try to be more regular with updates. However, Summer Reading is upon us! (Cower, brief mortals!)
Here's the promised "Gathering Blue" post. I promise to post "Messenger" by Friday.

Fair Warning: Here there be spoilers!

"Gathering Blue"
Lois Lowry
Delacourt Books 2006
ISBN 978-0385732562

Kira has managed to live with a crippled leg and without a father, but when her mother dies as well, it is Kira's gift with threads that saves her from the cruel justice of her village. Now, Kira learns the art of dying and weaving,. becoming the sewer of the Robe and ensuring the yearly recitation of her village's history. But there are sinister forces at work, and when Kira seeks out blue for "Yonder", she discovers more to the world.

I am really terrible at doing these summaries. Ick. But, "Gathering Blue" is a companion/sequel to "The Giver". At first glance, it's impossible to find the connection. Both books are dystopias, but they function on opposite ends of the spectrum. While Jonas's world is order and peace, Kira's world is rough, unruly, and primitive. Families live in functional units within the village, but in the Fens, family scrape and squabble and fight for survival. Lowry does an excellent job at providing little snippets of the rude world of the Fens, but the majority of the action takes place in Kira's new home, the main building of the civilization, where Kira is taken after her parents die. Her crippled leg is a huge part of the story, as the village tends to drag those ruined (injured, sick, crippled) to the Field to die alone. Luckily, it is clear that Kira has a gift with thread. In a way, this makes her much like Jonas, who is labeled by his light eyes. Kira is joined in her work on the history of the town by Thomas, a boy with carving skills, and Jo, a child from the Fens who can sing. They'll be the ones to carry on the history, as well as record the present, on the Robe, Staff, and in the Song of the village. Whew. The story is not as complicated as it seems, but trying to relate makes it snarl a lot. The other pivotal character in "Gathering Blue" is Matt, a child from the Fens who is Kira's friend. He's very impish, mischievous, and generally adds a little comedy to the proceedings. But he is the one who goes off in search of the color blue to bring back to Kira and her threads. And, he's the one who discovers the others who live yonder. It's an entire community of "broken people", who had fled for their lives from other lands. Most importantly, Kira's father, who was not killed in a hunt but instead attacked by jealous rivals and left, blind and injured, for dead, was safely brought to this community, and is reunited with Kira through Matt, although he cannot stay. It's a very interesting view into the Darwinian justice of the village. Especially when you find out who attacked him. But, the primary message of the book is the realization by Matt, Thomas, and Kira (much like Jonas's) that the world they live in is much bigger than what they've been told, and that the only way to bring about the future is to change it themselves. The ol' turning-a-dystopia-into-a-utopia. In the end, Matt goes back with Kira's blinded father to the village of other. By the way, the village is led by a young man with light eyes.

Aha. Draw your own conclusions here. Then, read "Messenger" and see if you were right.