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Summary: Love this book
Review: I loved The Giver.. But Gathering Blue is, in my opinion, better. It focuses less on societal implications and more on the heart and soul of a vulnerable and gifted girl. The reader really cares about Kira and what will happen to her in the savage world Lowry has created. I hear that an eventual third book will create a triology and link Jonas's world to Kira's. Can't wait!
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Summary: Another Winner from Lowry
Review: Lois Lowry shocked parents a few years ago with her best-selling book "The Giver." Sadly, by the time "Gathering Blue" was released, most of her audience had moved on. Because it's written on a lower reading level than "The Giver," it was considered a fatal choice for a time. Then interest began to resurface. That's when I discovered this book.Gathering Blue is futuristic look at society, similar to The Giver. It follows the life of Kira, whose mother has just died at the beginning of the story. It obvious almost immediately that Kira is different, she is disabled. Since most disabled people are killed at birth in her soceity, life becomes an unbearable struggle after her mother's death. Her father, apparently killed during a hunt shortly after Kira's birth, has eluded her throughout her life and she often feels empowered by .... something to weave spectacular cloths. When she is threatened by some women of the village for her land, Kira feels as though her life is over, but a great amount of luck is in store for her, thanks to her remarkable sewing/weaving abilities. Kira soon discovers that the tenants of the building she is allowed to live in have similar stories to hers. She faces a very difficult decision at the end of the book: Be forced to live in a society where you might be able to change things, or simply go to a society where you will be accepted. There are a lot of deeper meanings in this book younger readers might not grasp. I think all young adults could enjoy this book.
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Summary: Another excellent book by Lois Lowry
Review: I read The Giver about 3 years ago in one of my classes, at first, I wasn't interested (you know how it is, the books they make you read are almost always terrible). But as it went on, I really started to get into and enjoyed it. Soon after I realized she also wrote Number the Stars (another book I really enjoyed). So, when I was recommended Gathering Blue, it sounded excellent and I got it right away. When I received it in the mail, I sat down on the couch and started reading it right after I took it from the box. I finished it in two days. Although I would have finished it quicker, I do have classes to worry about. Lois Lowry brings you into another future world, and makes you think, "Could this really happen to us years and years from now?" Kira, a crippled girl becomes an orphan and may be sent to "The Field" where beasts will take her a kill her. The village already doesn't like her because she IS crippled, but her mother was always there to protect here. She is taken to the Counsel Of Guardians and finds a surprise that they already have plans for her, and are not going to send her to The Field. I could keep going on, but I don't want to spoil anything for you readers. But one thing is for sure, READ THIS BOOK!
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Summary: If You Are A Giver Fan, You Must Read Gathering Blue.
Review: If you enjoyed The Giver, then you must read Gathering Blue. Gathering Blue helped me to further understand the ending of The Giver.
This novel is about a girl named Kira who does not fit into her society because of her twisted leg. Her talent with a needle and thread saves her from death, though, and begins a new life for her.
Though Gathering Blue was not as exciting as The Giver and took awhile to get into the actual story after the depressing lead, you would definitely not be wasting your time by reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good!
Review: I have been a fan of Lowis Lowry's work since I've read Numbering the Stars when I was in fifth grade for a Literature circle. Now, as an eighth grader, I think Gathering Blue is WONDERFUL! I read The Giver, which is a good book to read first. But, Gathering Blue was better in my soul opinion. It's about a primitive community, where they shun people if they are not perfect(kind of like what Sparta did, leave you to die if you had a deformity). Unlike the Giver, these people had rain, sun, snow, etc...a normal (sort of) Earth. Kira, a young girl, was born with a twisted leg, and her mother protected her. But then she died of a sickness suddenly and Kira was orphaned, her father killed by Beasts. Vandara, a strong lady in the community wants to use the space that her house was (they burn the house down, if the deceased person was sick)for a pen to put Tykes (children) and chickens. (Mind you, this lady, is EVIL. But I root for the evil people)
The only weak part of the book was the ending, it was a little cliche, in a personal opinion it would have been better in First person, than third. Anyway, I think it is a great book for leisure read!
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Summary: Gathering Blue
Review: Gathering Blue
Gathering Blue is about a girl named Kera. When Kera was born she didn't know her father and she was born with a twisted leg. Kera learns how to work with her twisted leg. She cleans up scraps at a local weaving shed. When Kera is about 12 years old her mother get an awful cold and she dies from it. Now Kera is all alone. A mean lady wants to send Kera to the field to be eaten by Beast. People who have no purpose will be taken to the field to where mean animals live that eat people. The lady thinks Kera is useless and eats allot. Kera is taken to The Council of Guardians. The Council of Guardians takes homeless children that have special gifts. Kera's gift is weaving. The Council of Guardians hire her to restore the singers robe. While she is there she meets a boy named Thomas the Carver. They become very good friends. The way Lois Lowry wrote the book made me want to keep on reading, to find out what happend next. I have read a few other books by her and I can recognize it was by Lois Lowry.
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Summary: "Sameness"
Review: I was very pleased by this book as I should...all of the pieces that I have read by Lois Lowry have been quite enjoyable. So far The Giver is my favorite, which is another reason why Gathering Blue appealed to me. It had very similar ideas of a decided upon way of life with few choices left to the unknown. It makes you think of how your life would be different if our society was run this way.
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Summary: Gathering Blue
Review: This book is definetly similar to Lois Lowry's other book, The Giver, and made me believe they could be set in the same future world, just in two different communities. Although good, I probably wouldn't have found this book very intresting if I hadn't read the Giver first; read after reading The Giver its much better. The storyline was quite simple, and more predictable then the Giver(I cant help comparing the two-they're so alike!) and although the future world described in Gathering Blue was harsh, the one in the Giver was far more chilling and therefore more intresting to read about. One thing I picked up on-its intresting how this book is based so much around colours, while the Giver is about a world with no colors at all, until Jonas learns to see them. (talking of him, did anyone pick up the reference at the end, about the boy with blue eyes? When an author puts in an insignifcant detail like that its got to be for a reason.) Anyway, I recommend reading the Giver first and then Gathering Blue, otherwise you might be disappointed.
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Summary: A fun read, though not as exciting as Lowry's other works
Review: I have been an avid fan of Lois Lowry's work for a few years now. Perhaps avid is an overstatement, but I lack the extra time to be avid about anything except reading in general.
Gathering Blue is a rather mediocre work of Lowry's, but that puts it in an arena next to such greats as The Giver, A Summer To Die, and Number the Stars. However, the story of Kira is rather intriguing, as we watch her cope with a social system that appears to have deteriorated to the Middle Ages from the 1900's. Though the society appears primitive compared to our own, the society's manner of dealing with people and problems is stunningly like the methods of the modern day.
Someone's hurt? Leave them as carrion for the beasts. This attitude is not unlike our own towards helping those in need. You need help? Well, I'm really busy right now. A crime I myself am often guilty of.
Gathering Blue is a simple read, though more than worth the small amount of time necessary. Though not as moving and deep as some other works, this is another well-constructed novel of Lowry's.
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Summary: Julie
Review: Gathering Blue was an interesting book. It sarted out slow but gradually built up. I personally don't like that, I like a book that will grab you in with the first sentence. It was unclear what time period it was set in but it appeared as if the world had died and was reborn. I liked the basic idea but i thought the ending was horrible.
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