Teenage Kira lives in a futuristic society with an authoritarian ruling class that controls everything, including creativity. Her fellow villagers shun Kira after her mother dies. But a member of the Council of Guardians who is impressed with the girl’s weaving ability saves her from certain death. Kira quickly gains a comfortable new home inside the Council Edifice where she is assigned to work on maintaining and restoring the ancient Singer’s robe, a ceremonial garment with the history of Kira’s people woven into it. While her new life is highly regulated, she has some freedom to interact with other creative people working on assigned tasks. These interactions, coupled with Kira’s access to her people’s history, cause her to begin to question the things she’s accepted as true. This dystopic future society by Lois Lowry explores some of the same issues she raised in The Giver (Houghton Mifflin, 1993): how storytelling and ritual play an important part in keeping a culture alive, and how access to history is the key to finding truth. (Ages 13-16)

The second book in Lois Lowry's Giver Quartet, which began with the bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning The Giver.

Left orphaned and physically flawed in a civilization that shuns and discards the weak, Kira faces a frighteningly uncertain future.

Her neighbors are hostile, and no one but a small boy offers to help. When she is summoned to judgment by The Council of Guardians, Kira prepares to fight for her life.

But the Council, to her surprise, has plans for her. Blessed with an almost magical talent that keeps her alive, the young girl faces new responsibilities and a set of mysteries deep within the only world she has ever known. On her quest for truth, Kira discovers things that will change her life and world forever.

A compelling examination of a future society, Gathering Blue challenges readers to think about community, creativity, and the values that they have learned to accept. Once again Lois Lowry brings readers on a provocative journey that inspires contemplation long after the last page is turned.

“This extraordinary novel is remarkable for its fully realized characters, gripping plot, and Lowry’s singular vision of a future.” —VOYA

The Giver has become one of the most influential novels of our time. Don't miss the powerful companion novels in Lois Lowry's Giver Quartet: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.