Gathering Blue

By Lois Lowry

Review by Brendan

The opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention.

·Put reader right into the action

·Make reader imagine the unimaginable (ie. It’s not everyday that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder…)

·Don’t start with “the book I read was…” That’s way too BORING! Hook us into the plot!

When her mother dies of sickness, young and disabled Kira has no parents. Her land is stolen, and forces her to trial in court. That’s when her life changed forever.

The title and author are worked in naturally

·Don’t say, “My book was The Giver” when you can say, “Jonas, a twelve year old boy and the main character of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award winning novel The Giver, must make decisions that impact his entire society.”

In Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry has created yet another strange civilization with odd people as well as odd rules. This story is much like the Giver with many characters important to the story.

The overall idea and plot are discussed, without giving away the ending

·Keep it short and sweet, even if it’s a long book

·Just give the reader the gist of the book. Be clear, make sense, don’t give away the ending

In this novel, young Kira and her amazing talent of weaving give her a job and better life. She has a neighbor, Thomas, who is a great carver who is there because of his parents’ death and his wonderful talent. Kira has to dye her own threads in beautiful, vibrant colors for her job is fixing the famous singer’s robe. But there is one pale spot on the robe with a color seemingly impossible to get. Blue. Kira’s young tike friend, Matt, appreciates Kira and wants to get blue for her in secret so it would be a surprise.

Describe one exciting incident in detail

·Again, don’t give away the ending

·Be clear enough so that someone who HAS NOT read the book can follow

Also, in the book, Kira, and her neighbor, Thomas, meet a tike who is a great singer. They sneak out of their rooms in the middle of the night because they heard her crying. The tike, Jo, is also there because of her amazing talent and her parents’ death.

End the review with your opinion and recommendation

·Who might like this type of book? (Sports fans? People that love to laugh? History buffs? Late night readers that like to be freaked out?

·What did you think? Is it worth reading? If it won an award, is it worth the hype?

I think people who liked The Giver would love this book because it is also in an odd setting with weird twists in the plot. Its 200 pages of wonderful literature are definitely worth reading. I would have to give this book four out of five stars.