Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry (The Giver Trilogy, Book 2)

Books Completed: 34
Completion Date: February, 2009
Pages: 224
Publication Date: September 10, 2002

Reason for Reading: Next book in the trilogy. Sci-Fi Experience.

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.

I read The Giver, the first book in this trilogy, a while ago now. I had planned to read the rest of the books in the trilogy, but I just never got around to it! It probably would have been a good idea to go just a bit faster, though, because the last book in this trilogy combines characters from this book and from the first one, so I am not sure how well I am going to remember the story by that point. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of the third one soon.

This is the second book that I have read recently that takes place after the world as we know it has been destroyed. Lowry does not picture the same type of world as Westerfeld, though. She pictures a world where instead of moving forward with technology, they have actually moved backwards. They both have the idea of perfection as a central theme, though. Westerfeld had everyone born and then made perfect, though. Lowry writes of a world where you are 'sent to the Field' if you are not born perfect. Both societies have ideals about what people are supposed to be like, though. Westerfeld's characters aspire to be beautiful, while Kira is lucky to be alive. She was born with a twisted leg, so she normally would have been sent away to die right from the beginning, but her mother fought for her life.

Like Tally from Westerfeld's book, Kira believes that this is the way that life is supposed to be. She does what she is told, and they keep her alive. She wouldn't dare risk attention being brough to herself because then her mother's wishes might not be carried out. Thankfully for her, though, she is an excellent seamstress. This is something that the powers that be know about and have use of, so Kira finds her life suddenly very different. Things are not always what they seem, though. When you are given the oppurtunity to see the whole picture, you can easily find yourself rethinking how things are. Tally and Kira thought that they knew how things were 'supposed' to be, but they quickly learn that they have been living their life largely in the dark.

Lowry is a wonderful author that I really have to read more books by! I hope the comparision between Lowry and Westerfeld wasn't a problem. I just had the other book fresh in my head, so I thought I would draw on it! I also really need to read more science-fiction.