Messenger by Lois Lowry

Rating: 1.2.1
Recommended audience: Ages 10+
Category: Fantasy, YA fiction, juvenile fiction
Review:


This is the book that brings The Giver and Gathering Blue together. I'm not going to say very much about this book because I don't want to give anything away about the other two. I will say that this does bring up some good points about greed and materialism. What are we sacrificing when we become too greedy and are consumed with getting "things"? Are we actually giving up something in our efforts to get more? This was an interesting book and a good ending to this trilogy. I thought it ended a little abruptly but other then that I really enjoyed it.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Rating: 2.2.1 (PG)
Recommended audience: 10+
Category: Fantasy, juvenile and YA fiction
Review:


This book is set in the same time period as Lowry's The Giver but in a different part of the land. It is the story of Kira who is the only crippled person in the whole village, because usually when a baby is born with a defect, it is taken to "the Field" and left for dead. The village is very primitive and the people just barely eke out a living; everyone is required to work every day but most people live in poverty. Kira was saved from being left in the "Field" because her mother fought to keep her and Kira's grandfather was on the Council of Guardians and had great influence. Now Kira's mother is dead and she is threatened again to be taken to the "Field". She is saved however because of a special gift that she has. I really like the way Lowry writes. In this book and The Giver I could feel that something is not quite right and she slowly gives more information so it keeps me turning the pages. The characters are interesting and so is this society that lives in the distant future.

This is a stand alone book. Though it is connected to The Giver it is not necessary to read The Giver first.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Rating: 2.2.1

Recommended audience: 10+

Category: Fantasy, YA fiction

Set sometime in the distant future, this book takes place in a community in which all diversity has been eliminated. Everyone is given an assignment at the age of 12 in which they will serve until they are considered too old and then are placed in the "Home of the Old". The book is about a boy named Jonas and his unusual assignment. It is fascinating, thought provoking, infuriating, and just an excellent read. My only problem with it was that I didn't want it to end. Many people don't realize that Lowry also wrote companion books called Gathering Blue (2000) and Messenger (2004) that connect the characters of all three books. I haven't read them yet but I'm anxious to.