Gathering Blue, written by Lois Lowry in 2000, the second book in what is sometimes called The Giver Quartet, is about a girl named Kira who was born with a twisted leg making it impossible for her to walk without a cane. Normally in her society, if a baby is born crippled it would be left in the forest to die. However, her mother kept her even though Kira would never be able to work. After her mother dies, the leaders of the village assign her a very important job: Every year in the village the Singer sings the song of the village’s past and The Singer’s robe shows the story. She will repair the robe and then, when she is ready, she will complete the robe-and with it, the village’s history. However, as she continues her work on the robe she begins to see the truth, of her village, her family, and her.
I loved this book. It is so thought-provoking and multi-layered that even though it is technically part of a series, it could easily stand alone. And like all books in the quartet, Gathering Blue is the type of book that you could read over and over and get more out of it each time. But the main reason that I loved this book is the same as with The Giver. They both show the good and bad sides of society, and how even a small group of people can change it.