© 2014 by BLACK, WHITE & READ BOOKS.

Proudly created with Wix.com

Photos of Gilmore girls courtesy of The CW

Custom graphics by Human Illustrations

 

  • FB smaller.jpg
  • instagram smaller.jpg
  • tumblr smaller.jpg
  • twitter smaller.jpg
  • email smaller.jpg

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.jpg
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Most of you are well acquainted with my pure and beautiful love of The Giver by Lois Lowry. It was the book that showed me how reading could change your life. I sat in a 7th grade classroom as my teacher's assistant read to us Jonas' tale of discovering the reality of his world... and nothing would ever be the same.

Therefore, you can imagine how hesitant I was to read the rest of Lowry's The Giver quartet. The Giver, to me, was a perfect memory and I didn't want any sort of poorly written sequel to ruin a moment in my life that meant so much. Shortly before the release of the film version of The Giver, a friend and I attended a book discussion at a local bookstore. Inevitably, the rest of the series came up and the insights the other attendees had into Gathering Blue, Messenger and Son made me realize that The Giver would not be ruined for me.

What I misunderstood, and what I believe a lot of readers believe, is that Gathering Blue and the subsequent books are simply a sequel to The Giver. That Lowry picks up where we left off, with Jonas and Gabriel on the sled, seeing the warm lights from a house nearby. But that is not the case. The rest of the quartet tells different tales of characters living in the same time as Jonas, but in different communities.

The most interesting thing to me in regards to Gathering Blue as compared to The Giver was the difference in the way the community saw individuality. In The Giver, its members are asked to give up anything that makes them unique and individuals strive to stifle anything that might make them different from their neighbors. In Gathering Blue, unique people are revered and nurtured. However, as is true of all of the world's Lowry has created in this series, leadership takes their love of individuality and mutates it into someting grotesque. While they respect talent, they also cage it so it can only be used for their purposes. And as you can imagine as with most dystopias, their purposes are rarely altruistic.

Synopsis:

Lois Lowry won her first Newbery Medal in 1994 for The Giver. Six years later, she ushered readers back into its mysterious but plausible future world in Gathering Blue to tell the story of Kira, orphaned, physically flawed, and left with an uncertain future. This second book in the Giver Quartet has been stunningly redesigned in paperback.

As she did in The Giver and later Messenger, in Gathering Blue Lois Lowry challenges readers to imagine what our world could become, how people could evolve, and what could be considered valuable.

#gatheringblue #loislowry #thegiver #deepthoughtsfromdamptresses

recent posts

Educated by Tara Westover

The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace

The Girl and the Grove by Eric Smith

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michel

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital by David M.

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of WWII by Liza Mundy

{"items":["5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b61","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b59","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b5a","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b5f","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b62","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b5d","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b5b","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b60","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b5c","5fd76a2a13334a00177b1b5e"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":5,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":false,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":["SHOW_ON_THE_LEFT","SHOW_BELOW"],"galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":26,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":65,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":292,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_12","value":"rgba(246,246,246,0)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","targetItemSize":292,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":26,"externalInfoWidth":0.65},"container":{"width":220,"galleryWidth":225,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}
archive
  • August 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (1)
  • May 2018 (2)
  • April 2018 (1)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • November 2017 (2)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (3)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (5)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (4)
  • January 2016 (6)
  • December 2015 (4)
  • November 2015 (11)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (7)
  • August 2015 (6)
  • July 2015 (9)
  • June 2015 (8)
  • May 2015 (7)
  • April 2015 (18)
  • March 2015 (12)
  • February 2015 (6)
  • January 2015 (14)
  • December 2014 (16)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (22)
  • September 2014 (13)
  • August 2014 (8)
  • July 2014 (7)
  • June 2014 (17)
  • May 2014 (18)
  • April 2014 (31)
  • March 2014 (15)
  • February 2014 (7)
  • January 2014 (18)
  • December 2013 (11)
  • November 2013 (13)
  • October 2013 (7)
  • September 2013 (18)
  • August 2013 (17)
  • July 2013 (18)
  • June 2013 (12)
  • May 2013 (11)
  • April 2013 (7)
search for stuff
  • blog

  • writing

  • the official list

  • ...and beyond

  • podcasts

  • faq

  • about

  • More

    reading all books referenced on gilmore girls

    reading all books referenced on Gilmore girls