Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Reviewed by JenniferRatings
Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content
LANGUAGE
VIOLENCE
SEXUAL CONTENT
ADULT THEMES
Ratings Explanation
Language: Woman dyes threads in a “pot of piss”
Violence: Kira’s father recounts the story of when he was attacked by a man, beaten up and left for dead. His attacker slashed his face, blinding him.
Sexual Content: “Others would be coupling tonight, creating new people.” p.18
Adult Themes: Kira was born crippled. When she was a baby the leaders of the village wanted to take her away to “give her back to the earth,” but her mother fought to keep her. Kira’s mother dies, leaving her alone in the world. People are generally unkind to each other in the village. No one helps each other, even Kira’s uncle doesn’t offer any assistance when her mother dies. Parents treat their own children poorly, slapping them, penning them up and yelling at them.
Synopsis
In this companion novel to The Giver, Kira, a young, crippled girl, is left to fend for herself after her mother’s death. In a society where the weak are cast aside, or worse, Kira makes a plan to rebuild the hut she and her mother lived in and make her own way in their unforgiving village. After a confrontation with the fiercest woman in the village, who wants Kira’s land for her own, Kira is assigned a defender from the Council of Guardians. Having discovered her exceptional talent for embroidery, The Council brings her to live in the Council Edifice where she has plenty of food, running water and a bed. These are luxurious accommodations compared to the living conditions of the village. There she meets a new friend, Thomas, who is a young, gifted carver of wood. Kira learns that her responsibility, in exchange for food and shelter, is to restore the elaborate robe worn by the Singer who, once a year, sings the village’s ancient history. The story is told on the robe through intricate designs and Kira is to tell the future of the village through her art.
While Kira enjoys the advantages of living in the Edifice, she begins to realize that she, Thomas, and Jo, the tiny girl who will be Singer one day, have been “collected” for their artistic abilities, making the Edifice start to resemble more of a prison than a haven.
I enjoyed this book far more than The Giver. While not the focus of the story, Kira’s disability is handled beautifully. She is never embarrassed or bitter about her lot in life. “Mother said pain made me strong,” states Kira. She is determined to be an influence for good and to change the future of her village. Although The Giver and Gathering Blue are companion novels, there isn’t any connection between the stories until the end when a boy is mentioned who might, or might not, be Jonas. I will be interested to see if they fit together in The Messenger.