Gathering Blue Chapters One and Two Post

                Gathering Blue Chapters One and Two

             So far I am really enjoying Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry.  Although it is very different than The Giver, it is still very good. In Jonas's world everyone has a family and a home. In The Giver release in common, but death of other natural causes is very rare. In chapter one of  Gathering Blue, Kira has no home or family. Also in chapter one, a plethora of deaths occurred (including Kira's mother and aunt). Also Kira expresses her fear of beasts, in The Giver there are no more wild animals. Other than Jonas and the Giver the people believe that animals such as bears and elephants (that are there comfort objects) never actually existed.  Also in The Giver everyone has enough food. Kira has no food at the end of chapter one.

               One concept that I really liked in Gathering Blue so far is how people can tell your age my the number of syllables in your name.  Having age so clearly designated reminded me of how ages were expressed in The Giver.   One ting I did not like very much is how mean the women were to Kira because of her leg.  The women, especially Vandara. It was really mean to call her useless, especially after she had already so much to deal with. It was unfair and harsh of them to judge her.  Also the reason they wanted to take Kira's land in the first place was so they could build a pen to keep their children when they misbehaved. To me that in itself is very wrong. The land could be dangerous and it would probably be unsupervised so the children are at great risk. Also it is inhumane to keep kids locked up as though they were animals. They are only children and have probably not been taught any better. The cruel punishment reminded me of how in The Giver, Asher was whacked with the discipline wand when he asked for a smack, when what he really meant to ask for was a snack.
              I am really liking Gathering Blue so far. I really like the way it is written and I think the more I read the more I will enjoy it. So far it has many similar concepts to The Giver yet is very different. I can't wait to keep reading!
-Margo Kaplan