Gathering Blue

Lois Lowry

ISBN 10: 0786230487 ISBN 13: 9780786230488

Publisher: Thorndike Press, 2000

Synopsis

Kira, born with a crippled leg, has recently been orphaned. Because of her birth defect, a condition that usually ends in abandonment in her culture, and her lack of protection since her mother's death, many of the women try to drive her away from the village in which she was born. Remarkably, her skills at sewing save her, as she is taken to the Royal Edifice and given a job repairing the intricate embroidery on the Singer's ceremonial robe. She is responsible for restoring the sections of the robe which illustrate the past and creating a new section which predicts the future. She lives close to Thomas the Carver, who carves the staff for the Singer, and Jo, a young girl being trained for the role of the next Singer. As all three are trained and create work for the next ceremony, Kira's discovers that the Guardians of her village may be using all of their skills for a dark purpose and that she must create a new color, blue, for the future of her people.

About this title

Review:

Lois Lowry's magnificent novel of the distant future, The Giver, is set in a highly technical and emotionally repressed society. This eagerly awaited companion volume, by contrast, takes place in a village with only the most rudimentary technology, where anger, greed, envy, and casual cruelty make ordinary people's lives short and brutish. This society, like the one portrayed in The Giver, is controlled by merciless authorities with their own complex agendas and secrets. And at the center of both stories there is a young person who is given the responsibility of preserving the memory of the culture--and who finds the vision to transform it.

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. With astonishing originality, Lowry has again created a vivid and unforgettable setting for this thrilling story that raises profound questions about the mystery of art, the importance of memory, and the centrality of love. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell

From the Inside Flap:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0786230487
• ISBN 13: 9780786230488
• Binding: Library Binding
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256