gathering blue

Lois Lowry's Gathering Blue gives you the life of Kira, a deformed girl living in a village that appears to be inhabited by the strong and the savage. When her mother suddenly died, she was rescued from certain death by the council of the Elders, who rule the village. She was taken care of, clothed and fed, and given her mother's old task of repairing the Singer's Robe.

The Robe is crucial, because it tells the story of the times before. It tells, in the intricate designs embroidered on it, of the start of time, when birds and trees flourished, and man was happy. Then man started building, and the bigger things he built, the greater was the destruction that followed. There was war, and ruin, and afterwards, man would build again.

Every year this story is sung by the Singer. He wears the Robe that Kira is repairing. But Kira, for all her incredible skills as a threader, did not have the color blue. There is an old woman who knows where the blue is, but it lies far beyond their village.

In the confines of the building where Kira is housed, she discovers Thomas the carver, whose work is the repair of the Singer's staff. The Singer carries the intricately carved staff to help him remember the Song every year. Kira also discovers Jo, a little girl whose songs are said to be magical.

Kira discovers a safe, comfortable life, where her every need is given to her, in exchange for her work on the Robe. She has her new friends, Thomas the carver and Jo the singer, and an old friend from her old life in the village, Matt.

Then Matt, a mostly wild, mostly neglected child, decides that he wanted to bring Kira the blue she needs. What he succeeds in bringing Kira shatters her comfortable world, and makes her question the things she had always believed in.

I read this book because I read The Giver, and I guess I was searching for answers on what could possibly have happened to Jonas. I still don't have the answers, but I was hooked on another great story. I read it all online, on OnRead.com. Check out their great selection. Next on my list, Messenger, still by Lois Lowry.