Gathering Blue

Locations
Call Number: Y Fiction / Lowry, Lois, Kids Book / Fiction / Classic / Lowry, Lois
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	Y Fiction / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Traverwood Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Classic / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Classic / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Classic / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	Due 04-27-2024
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Classic / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	Due 05-05-2024
Westgate Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Fiction / Classic / Lowry, Lois	4-week checkout	Due 04-09-2024

"Walter Lorraine books."
Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
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Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

gathering blue submitted by oshi1232 on June 22, 2011, 12:40pm This was a very sad book and happy at the end too. You should read it, and how the grils life was changed.

Pretty good submitted by evelyn on August 2, 2011, 8:07am This was a good book but seemed in some ways to be a repeat of The Giver (also by Lois Lowry and winner of the Newberry), particularly the ending. If you haven't read The Giver, read that first.

Great! submitted by alumeng.ajl on July 30, 2012, 5:14pm This is an amazing sequel to the Giver! It is wonderfully written, too!

GatheringBlue submitted by SBNB on June 26, 2014, 12:09pm Great book! I couldn't put it down!

Good submitted by peterflorence on June 15, 2015, 10:28am This was a great book, but with a sad surprise at the end.

Good book submitted by pixel gamer 3000 on August 8, 2015, 9:19am This was a pretty good book, but it seemed a lot less interesting than the preceding book, The Giver.

young adult submitted by johnbiancke on August 30, 2015, 2:52pm This book is labeled as a companion to "The Giver" I disagree - the book stands on it's own and is a good read especially for young teens.

telling the future submitted by camelsamba on August 31, 2016, 8:56pm Gathering Blue is set in the future after some catastrophic event. At the beginning of the audiobook, Lois Lowry explains that she imagined the society in Gathering Blue as an alternative to the rigid structure she created in The Giver. Gathering Blue instead relies on a society that is brutish and mean. (I wish I could quote her exact words but I had to return the audiobook.) I do not know if this introduction also appears in the print edition, but it explains how this book relates to The Giver.

Kira, our protagonist, was born with a disfigured leg and normally would have been cast aside by the society, but her mother protected her as an infant. Her mother's role in the society is to dye threads and patch a ceremonial robe. Her mother dies at the beginning of the tale, and a powerful leader defends Kira against those who would turn her out because of her disabilities - the leaders have recognized that she is a gifted needleworker (embroidery, although it is never called that). Despite the harshness of the society, they do value certain artistic skills.

Kira is moved to a protected and pampered residence - along with a boy artist (Thomas) who carves the ceremonial staff, and a very young girl (Jo) who is being groomed for the role of ceremonial singer. They are told they will add to the ceremonial elements, that they will "tell the future": but will they be free to tell the future they envision, or will it be dictated by the leaders? Undercurrents sprinkled in the book made us wonder. But in that introduction, Lowry tells us that Kira chooses to define a new future, a different future: but we do not learn what that is going to be. For that, I gather, we must read the rest of The Giver Quartet.

Different submitted by sydcha on July 25, 2019, 6:27pm While seemingly unconnected to the previous book, The Giver, the overarching themes of this book seem to mirror its companion almost exactly. Tears were spilled over these pages.

One of my favorites! submitted by Thor on August 3, 2020, 11:37am The whole book is amazing and the ending is just mind blowing. I love how the end relates to the first book.

5 out of 5 submitted by graytabby on August 1, 2021, 10:10pm Unpopular opinion: this was better than The Giver.