She has been kept alive by her mother, and, when her mother dies, is brought before the Council of Guardians by Vandara, one of the women who seeks to take her land. Her only friend is a boy named Matt, a one syllable boy.

Kira is a girl with a twisted leg who lives in a more primitive society where people who cannot work die. Gathering Blue is the 2nd book in the Giver quartet. Certainly, a comparison to contemporary society could stimulative thought-provoking discussions among readers of all ages. While the society she portrays is stifling and at times ugly, Lowry plants a seed of hope that may or may not flourish. She chooses her words carefully and deliberately: for example, the terms 'hubby' and 'tyke' are used to identify husbands and children, but in this bleak context, the words are stripped of their original, affectionate connotation. She faces a tremendous decision, the outcome of which will leave an impact on her world, no matter how she chooses.Īs in The Giver, Lowry's writing is intense, tightly focused and deceptively simple. She begins to understand that there is more to her talent than a simple flair for embroidery, and she begins to detect the common thread that binds her and the others for good or ill. Still, there is something that is not quite right with the situation, and soon Kira cannot avoid the truth. Kira's one desire is to find woad, the plant that will allow her to make blue thread, the one colour lacking in the spectrum available to her. Thomas as an exquisite carver, and he is assigned to work on the Singer's staff. She has friends as well: Matt, a scruffy boy from the Fen, a poverty-stricken area, who visits with his dog, Branch, and Thomas, a boy Kira's age who also lives under the care of the Guardians. She is comfortably housed, well-fed, clean and safe. Instead, she will remain under the protection of the Guardians, and her only task will be to mend, maintain and eventually further embellish the robe of the Singer, the individual who sings annually the history of her people.Īt first, Kira is relieved and grateful. She is afraid that she will be sent to her death in the Field, but her remarkable skill at embroidery saves her. Now Katrina is dead of a mysterious illness, and Kira faces judgment from the Council of the Guardians, since her lame leg hinders self-sufficiency and makes her a burden to her society. Her mother, Katrina, widowed before Kira's birth, refused to relinquish her, and so Kira was spared. In Kira's mind, her damaged leg should have haunted her at birth to exposure in the Field, the place where the dead, deformed or seriously injured are brought.

Gathering Blue is the second book in The Giver Quartet.

Gathering blue book