Welcome to Gaia! ::

Greetings.

I just finished Gathering Blue and wanted to make a thread for Lois Lowry. Let's start with an entertaining story. I thought for years that Lois Lowry... was a man. I read The Giver by her a couple of years ago and thought it was great. I didn't look up the author and the book was paperback so there wasn't an information in the back about the author. I assumed (assuming is bad) that Lois was pronounced Lewis or King Louis -- Not like my female cousin Lois or Lois from Family Guy.

Well, I went two weeks ago to find more books by Lois Lowry. I found Gathering Blue in hardcover. Lo and behold... There was a picture on the back of a woman, Lois Lowry. xp An ugly, manly-looking woman, but still a woman.

Lowry has won two Newbery Medals (for The Giver and Number The Stars) and four other awards. So she's pretty good.

Gathering Blue is a part of The Giver Trilogy (according to Wikipedia). The Trilogy starts with The Giver, Gathering Blue, then Messenger. I don't see how The Giver and Gathering Blue are actually related aside from their dystopian elements. Maybe the Messenger will explain further, but I doubt it. Messenger is clearly a sequel to Gathering Blue. Characters from both books are present and the story continues.

Gathering Blue is about a girl, Kira, with a twisted foot who has a gift for sewing and threading. Her mother dies from sickness at the beginning of the book and woman of the community want Kira's allotted land to build a chicken coup for corralling chickens AND their rambunctious kids. Kira uses her wits to keep the women from killing her on the spot and have their leader take her to trial to legally have Kira cast out of the community. The trial concludes with Kira losing her land but not her life. Instead, Kira is allowed to live in the Edifice -- an ancient building (obviously a church) with stained glass windows and architecture that cannot be reproduced -- where she will work on a ceremonial robe called the Singer's Robe.


The book is full of interesting beliefs and customs that pervade Kira's village. Everyone in the village is expected to contribute in the community. Newborns are scrutinized for health and worthiness when they are born. If they are found to be too weak or defective in some way, they are left in the Field of Leaving. Kira herself was nearly taken away when born because of her twisted leg, but her mother forced them to make an exception.

The collective attitude in the village is that one should not comfort the sick, one should not ask politely for things, one should push and shove to get their way and one should slap and backhand their children for discipline. Children are considered a nuisance and expendable. They aren't missed if they eat poisonous plants growing in the village.

Sexist beliefs are prevalent as well. Activities of men and women are mostly kept separate. The men hunt the meat and the women cook, clean (or not clean), fetch water, take care of the plants and other household chores. Children are let to wander the village in packs mostly. Women are forbidden to read (my husband jokingly said, "As it should be."), but it seems most villagers can't read either.

Names can tell roughly how old someone is. A one syllable name is for younger kids, a two syllable name for someone in their teens and younger adult years, a three syllable name is for a middle-aged person, and a four syllable name is for the oldest and wisest of the village.


So, yeah. Interesting stuff.

The giver was amazing! I loved that book!