Messenger by Lois Lowry

This is the third book in The Giver quartet. This is the book where characters from The Giver and Gathering Blue converge. We finally discover what happened to Jonas and Gabe from The Giver and the story continues for Matt (now Matty), and Kira from Gathering Blue.

Jonas' true name ends up being "Leader" and he leads the village that welcomes all people, especially those that are "imperfect" or disabled in some way, like Kira with her twisted leg. Kira does not live in this village yet however. She stayed behind at the end of Gathering Blue to make positive changes in the awful village she was born in. Kira's father, "Seer" lives in Leader's village and he has taken Matty in like his own son.

Leader's village becomes corrupt due to the Trade Market when people start trading their "inner selves" (kindness, patience, compassion, love) for changes in their outside appearance or character, like "fixing" their disability or imperfection. As the people in the village turn "ugly" on the inside, the forest around them turns dangerous and fatal for those that dare enter it. The village people vote to "close" the village, no longer accepting any mistreated, disabled travelers coming from other villages.

Matty is one of the only people in the village who can travel throughout the forest without the forest harming him. Because of this, he is the town's messenger when Leader wants to send messages to other villages. Matty also discovers that he has a special power, which was hinted at in Gathering Blue. Matty can "heal" himself and others, although it takes a lot of energy out of him, even if it's just saving a frog or puppy.

When the town votes to close its borders, Seer asks Matty to travel to his old village and persuade Kira to come back with him so that Seer can be near his daughter again. Once the village closes, he would potentially never see her again. Leader agrees to this plan, but since Leader has the ability to "see beyond", he knows that this will be an extremely dangerous mission for Matty. The forest was growing more and more dangerous by the hour.

This mission ends up being very dangerous indeed and the three characters with "special powers" (Matty, Leader and Kira) have to pool their powers in order for at least some of them to survive. The imagery of the angry forest is very powerful, as well as the descriptions of the severe injuries the forest caused Matty, Leader and Kira. I can't say that I love the ending of this book. I can say that the writing is excellent though.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This is an amazing story. I can't express how much I loved it, despite the tragic circumstances and overwhelming sense of hopelessness and helplessness. I did not want to put it down until I knew the ending.

What's interesting is that I read No Country for Old Men years ago and I did not like it. I even refused to watch the movie when it came out. Considering how much I loved the writing and storytelling in The Road, I may have to give No County... another read.

This is an example of, in the truest definition of the word, a dystopian novel. America has been destroyed. There are few survivors and those are few and far between. We don't really know how many years it's been since the apocalypse, but the two main characters are a man and his son. The son was born two weeks after the apocalypse and he seems to be between 6-8 years old. The country is cold and desolate. The air is filled with gray ash. There is limited food resources (for those that are lucky) and no way to settle down in one place. Staying in one place too long would mean sure death. Other survivors are eating each other. When is snows, the snow is gray. They have to strain ash out of their water supply before drinking it.

The man and his son live on "the road". This is their life, such as it is. The son knows no other life. The only thing that keeps them going is each other. There isn't any "light at the end of the tunnel" in this story. The man and his son simply survive one more day. One day after another. They are starving and deeply cold. It is a profoundly moving story.

As depressing as this story is, I absolutely loved it. A must read.

Wendy's Rating: *****

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

After re-reading The Giver recently I decided to research online to see if Lois Lowry ever explained the ending since it could be interpreted a couple of different ways. It didn't take long to figure out that Lois Lowry had written not one, but three additional "companion novels" to The Giver! I had no idea! Anyway, Gathering Blue is the first companion novel. This book does not explain what happened to Jonas & Gabe. The story is set in a different village or community with a more dystopian feel to it (while The Giver is more utopian).

The main character is a young girl, Kira, whose mother recently died due to illness. Kira has a bad leg (from birth) and normally babies born with a deformity are pretty much sent to the forest, or in other words, killed. Kira's mother, Katrina, insisted on keeping Kira though, and since Katrina had an important family member in the community, she was allowed to. Katrina also had a special skill. She knew how to color threads and sew/weave. Katrina was responsible for repairing Singer's beautiful robe each year after The Gathering. The Gathering was an annual event for the whole community. Singer's robe illustrated the history of the village and Singer pointed to the various sections of the robe while singing a very long song that reviewed the history of the village.

Anyway, after Katrina died, Kira was an orphan - or really a crippled orphan. Her father had died years ago on a village hunt. Kira's life was spared again by a member (Jamison) of the Council of Guardians. She was saved because she was even more talented than her mother at weaving threads. She was sent to live in a building with an indoor bathroom, hot meals and all the supplies she needed to restore Singer's robe. The village Kira lived in was grounded in poverty. The people were harsh, dirty, hungry and mean to each other and their children. The village had an underlying feeling of despair (hence my dystopian comment in the first paragraph.)

As in The Giver, Kira soon learns that all is not what it seems. Kira has two companions. Matt is a young, mischievous troublemaker and Thomas is the Carver, who lives in the same building as Kira. Thomas' job is to restore (and finish) Singer's staff/cane, which also illustrates the village's history. In this book you know the character's age range from their names. A one syllable name (like Matt) indicates the child is young. A two syllable name (like Kira & Thomas) indicates they are at least a young teen through early adulthood, I would guess. There is no one mentioned in the book that has more than a four syllable name. Kira makes a different decision than Jonas did in The Giver, and I can't wait to see how this story unfolds.

Gathering Blue was written seven years after The Giver. I really enjoy Lois Lowry's stories and look forward to reading the last two.

Wendy's Rating: *****