Chapter Book 6

                                                       

a.       Author: Lois Lowry

b.      Title: Gathering Blue

c.       Photographs:

d.      Readability: 5

e.        Genre: Fantasy

f.       Subgenre: Fiction

g.      Theme: Friendship, loyalty  

h.      Primary and secondary characters: Kira, an Orphan thread and loom worker. Thomas, the carver. Jamison, Kira’s Mentor, Matt, a boy from the Fen, Jo an Orphan singer.

i.        Award(s) date of publication:  

j.        Publishing company: Houghton Mifflin   

k.      ISBN number: 0-440-22949-9

l.        Brief summary: Gathering Blue, continues the plot line of The Giver. This sequel starts with a little girl, Kira, only two syllables, mourning the loss of her  mother, Katarina, 3 syllables. Kira stayed with her mother’s body for 4 days, ensuring her spirit would reach heaven. When she returned to town, she found the town turning a blind eye to her. Soon Vandara came and harassed Kira, telling her that the home that was once there, would be turned into a tyke pen for her children and the other tykes who were wild and roamed the city.  Vandara takes Kira to the Guardian Council to fight for the land Kira rightfully owns. Kira is granted with a choice, to allow herself to be represented by a council member or self-representation, she almost quickly answered self-representation, but remember that the more syllables a person had the wiser, since she only had two, she chose a  council member to be represented. Jamison soon took her under his wing, as Vandara told the council things that Kira did wrong, Jamison would find reasons to keep the land Kira owned. By the end of the meeting, it was decided that Vandara would get Kira’s land but Kira would be moved into the chambers. Kira had a talent, I forgot to mention, she has the gift of needle work. The thread she uses makes beautiful pictures and she is now given the job to use her hands, to repair the Singers robe. The singer performs once a year, wearing the robe and holding a staff. While inside the chambers she meets a boy, Thomas who is the carver. He is in charge of carving the staff of the singer, the staff is a music guide to how the long song goes.  As the story progressed Kira meets the future singer Jo. The three attend the Gathering, which they watch their hard work on the robe and staff. The whole city has arrived, even Matt who had been gone for many days. He met Kira and Thomas  back in the chambers, but he had a surprise, the color blue! Kira could plant the color blue and be able to dye thousands of threads. But the biggest surprise had yet to arrive. The three went back to the Gathering, but Kira heard a sound, it was a clinking sound, but only Kira and Thomas could hear it. Soon they realized, all their powers keep them chained in the chambers, they will never experience the outside world. Kira returns to her room to find Matt and a man, who was blind. This man is Kira’s father. He tells her that he survived a brutal attack by Jamison, the saver of Kira. They went on a hunt and Jamison attacked him from behind, cutting his eyes, leaving him for death. The draggers took him to the field to die but he was saved by a village of broken people. Kira’s father had four syllables meaning he was special and wise. Kira was bound and set on going to live with him, until she realized her powers of thread and needle point could shape the future, one day reuniting them. Kira states that the Council is made up of the wise, but they had no special powers, they only tell people how to live. Kira begins her life again as a skilled threader.

m.    Description of how you would use the book with students: This book shows perseverance in many ways. First by Kira, for standing up for her land. Then by Matt, who traveled many days to bring her the color blue. Again by Kira who kept her job as a threader in mind when making a choice that could change the course of the whole community. Lastly, by Christopher, Kira’s father, who fought through the pain to keep his life, knowing that one day he may or may not meet his daughter.  I would use this in my class to do a connection to writing, how did you preserver? This can also be used in class when discussing book series, since this and the Give are tied. We can also compare and contrast the books. How did the Giver and Gathering Blue connect and how did they show differences? Did you learn anything from  Gathering Blue that you would have liked to know in the Giver?