Some Lois Lowery books...

The Giver

The Giver tells the tale of a seemingly ideal utopian society. In this society once a year the children have a birthday which is really a ceremony where they move up a level in the society. Jonas is eagerly awaiting this ceremony so he can find out that his future will hold. At the ceremony he is shocked to discover he has been named the Receiver of Memories. Once he begins his training with the previous Receiver he begins to notice things like the color red, which he has never seen before. The revelations of what people have given up for their peaceful society become more clear to Jonas and take him to the point he must do something about it ultimately resulting in his leaving the community.



Gathering Blue

This is the story of Kira, a young girl who has a deformity and becomes orphaned at a young age. Some members of this harsh community want her to be put out for the beasts, so the matter goes before the council. Kira's skill as a weaver is used to save her and he begins working for the council on a ceremonial robe. Kira leans many skills for her craft but is never able to find the color blue to complete the robe. As she lives and works for the council she begins to see their oppression and control over the few artists that they have living there. In the end Kira make the decision that she can make a difference and bring change to the society.



Messenger

Messenger is the book which brings the other two together. Matt who helped Kira lives in a community where those turned out from other communities go to live. It is a friendly happy place where people help each other. Kira's father has become like a father to Matt and has taught him to be a more thoughtful person. The leader of this community is Jonas. When bad starts to take over in this community and forest begins to close in, members of the community begin to call for the borders to be closed claiming the cant handle more people. Matt sees the need to bring Kira home to her father and sets off on a journey to get her. He is dealing with his new found ability to heal but does not yet know what he is supposed to do with it. This book is an interesting conclusion to the set of three.