Ad Lit Outside Text (Gathering Blue)

I read Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry. This is one of the companion novels to the well know book The Giver (the 3rd book in the trilogy is Messenger). Gathering Blue was published in 2000. Lowry was born in 1937. She write mostly children's and young adolescent literature. Her most recent book was Gooney the Fabulous.

Gathering Blue was a delightful read and fulfilled my expectations, knowing it was part of The Giver trilogy. The book follows Kira, an orphaned girl with a crippled leg who is disliked in her community because of these two factors. People argue that she should be cast out of the community to die in the woods. Her miraculous talent to understand and create art through weaving saves her and gives her purpose within society. As she learns more about her art, she learns more about herself and the truths of her community. All is not what it seems. In the end, everyone appears to Kira to be broken in some way or another. Can she gather blue (the color of peace) to change the history of her people?

This book works to question our societal norms of socioeconomic class, discrimination of diversity and our reactions to pain. I would recommend it for grades 5-7, with the understanding that any age group can pull meaningful lessons from this book.

Lynn