Rating: 
Summary: Another compelling look at future societies
Review: Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, is another great novel about a future society. Though it is called a companion novel to The Giver, Lowry's earlier book about a future Utopian society, Gathering Blue is by no means a sequel. It follows the life of Kira, an orphan girl with a twisted leg trying to survive in a society that shuns and discards the weak. After her mother dies, Kira faces a life or death trial in front of the Council of Guardians. She is given the important job of being the threader of the sacred Singer's Robe. There, she meets Thomas the Carver, little Jo, the future Singer, and Matt, a troublesome tyke. This novel makes you think of where our current society is heading, and what we will become if we do- a greedy, self-centered world with no diversity and much power. Gathering Blue is a wonderfully written book that is sure to make you wonder how you can prevent this society from coming into full existence.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Thought-Provoking
Review: This is the story of the future of mankind, but without the flying cars and other Jetson's gadgets. Instead, like the Giver, Brave New World, and 1984, this book is one of those dark, thought-provoking glimpses of the future that makes us question the values that our society is based upon. Enter a world where the weakest are discarded (sort of like the Weakest Link TV show) and only the strongest survive, where kindness is a rarity and all of the technology of the past has been lost. Like in the Giver, the main character is set apart from the others. The orphan Kira is a cripple, and the tale is of her struggle to stay alive in her Spartan-like culture. Her gift at weaving causes her to be appointed to an important position which involves her delving into the mysteries of her society's past (Hmm, sounds like the Giver AGAIN). This book was very good, and if you enjoyed the Giver, you will enjoy this book, because its JUST LIKE the Giver. Similar ideas, similar events, except the Giver was a little bit better. Overall a very good book, but i would recommend it to kids over 11. Younger kids would enjoy it, but might miss important messages.
Rating:
Summary: Another hit
Review: Lois Lowry's Gathering Blue made me think about how we live today, and how we could live tomorrow. With a setting similar to that of the Giver's, I was totally and completely absorbed. Gathering Blue is a futuristic novel about a crippled girl who is singeled out to do one of the most important jobs in her comunity. She meets two new children of extraordinary talents, and they become fast friends. While the plot and the writing was excellent, the ending was confusing. Though I won't give it away, in my opinion a better ending could have been selected. In conclusion the many futuristic turns such as how man sylables your name has definately contributed to the over all greatness of the book.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece!
Review: This is a fascinating story woven intricately with a setting loosely stated. Supposedly after the 'Ruin', people lose information and all technology as they live in a primative village. However, the seemingly good community is a world of lies and secrets that only high officials have knowledge of. Kira, along with her friends Thomas, Matt, and Jo, discover the secrets of their fate. Kira, Thomas, and Jo, gifted artists, are all orphaned and sent to live and work for the governing officials on ceremonial artifacts; Kira stitches the 'Robe', Thomas carves the 'Staff', and Jo sings and practices the 'Song'. Together these three things provide clues to the altered world inside their village. All three ceremonial things contain a space to fill in the story of the future. However, while they are to fill in that space, they all know that they will be told what the future will hold, and from what Kira sees, it is a future of lies and hatred, covered up by happiness and peace. When she finally is united with her father, whom Matt helps her find, and whom she was told was dead, lies are uncovered and truth comes out. She decides to remain in the village to alter the future and make the blank spaces of false happiness reality. A cunning story of deep thought. It keeps you pondering and reflecting on days after you finish the last sentence. One of Lois Lowry's masterpiece writings. A must-read!
Rating:
Summary: A Special Book
Review: I thought that Gathering Blue was a wonderful book. I was in the library, looking for a book I hadn't already read, and I saw this book. I noticed it was by Lois Lowrey, whom I liked, and checked it out. Then I went home to read it, and I loved it. Gathering Blue is a book with the main charicter being a girl named Kira. Her mother has just died, and hardly anybody thinks a girl with a twisted leg should live. The "hardly anybody" includes Vandara, and Kira's future is uncertain... Gathering Blue is a book that has more than one moral, but I think one of the most important is that everyone has a gift.
Rating:
Summary: Short But Sweet
Review: I think that Gathering Blue was a very good book. I would have liked to have a little longer book. it ended too soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Gathering Blues
Review: This book started out great, but it ended too soon. The author seemed to have just stopped writing and decided to end at the most exciting point. It wasn't one of best books that Lois Lowry has written. ....
Rating:
Summary: Gathering blue madd good
Review: It has a sort of secrecy and suspense that makes you not want to stop reading. Also it f you like this kind of book, there is a long range of books like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner
Review: Gathering Blue has been described as a companion volume (a parallel story, as opposed to a sequel) of Lois Lowry's breathtaking 1993 book "The Giver." The story's characters and plot are well covered by other reviewers, so I don't have a lot to add in that regard. What I would like to comment on is the beautiful, organic quality of Lowry's writing this time around. Lowry's style is dispassionate and spare as ever, ala The Giver, but there is also a warmth to this story and its characters that's hard to pin down. Maybe it's the setting -- a harsh society living very close to the land -- that's so evocative. I don't know. But there are places in the book where I felt like I could reach out and touch Kira's world and the people in it. After finishing Gathering Blue, I was thrilled to learn that Lois Lowry is working on a third book set in this future world. Since Gathering Blue and The Giver represent almost totally opposite realities, I'll be very interested to see which social dimensions Lowry will choose to explore in the conclusion to the trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book, but too short
Review: I enjoy Lois Lowry's books, but this one was nothing compared to The Giver. It started out wonderful, and I loved most of it, but it ended far too soon. The author seemed to have just tired of writing it and decided to end at the most climatic point. If you really want to read a good book, read The Giver or Book of Memories. If you would like to read this, get it from the library, because you'll probabaly only read it once.
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