Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue is the second book in a trilogy by Lois Lowery.  When I first started this book I was a bit confused.  I knew it was part of a trilogy, but it was set in a different time, place, and had all different characters.  I kept waiting for a recurrence from The Giver, but it never came.  Go here to see how they do connect! 

As a special education teacher I am interested in how society sees those who have disabilities.  This book was an exceptional way to introduce how differences have evolved over the years.  It is also a good book to demonstrate friendships that cross socioeconomic, gender, age, ability, and other social boundaries.

I like the way Lowry keeps the story simple and leaves it open to personal interpretation, but at times it seems too vague.  First, I was confused with the setting.  The community seems to have gone backwards instead of forwards with technology, acceptance, and social justice.  They have running water, but only in one building that is controlled by the Council of the Elders.  Lowry also never really says why the Council of Elders needs to keep so much control. 

The following summary is taken from amazon.com.

After conjuring the pitfalls of a technologically advanced society in The Giver, Lowry looks toward a different type of future to create this dark, prophetic tale with a strong medieval flavor. Having suffered numerous unnamed disasters (aka, the Ruin), civilization has regressed to a primitive, technology-free state; an opening author's note describes a society in which "disorder, savagery, and self-interest" rule. Kira, a crippled young weaver, has been raised and taught her craft by her mother, after her father was allegedly killed by "beasts." When her mother dies, Kira fears that she will be cast out of the village. Instead, the society's Council of Guardians installs her as caretaker of the Singer's robe, a precious ceremonial garment depicting the history of the world and used at the annual Gathering. She moves to the Council Edifice, a gothic-style structure, one of the few to survive the Ruin. The edifice and other settings, such as the Fen, the village ghetto, and the small plot where Annabella (an elder weaver who mentors Kira after her mother's death) lives are especially well drawn, and the characterizations of Kira and the other artists who cohabit the stone residence are the novel's greatest strength. But the narrative hammers at the theme of the imprisoned artist. And readers may well predict where several important plot threads are headed (e.g., the role of Kira's Guardian, Jamison; her father's disappearance), while larger issues, such as the society's downfall, are left to readers' imaginations.