Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Note: read The Giver before this book and The Messenger after.

Plot: a poor weaver dies of sickness, leaving her daughter, Kira, all alone. Kira has a talent for weaving too, and the council decides not to cast her out of the village, in exchange for Kira's work. Kira must restore stitches on the Singer's robe, and she learns the art of thread dyeing from an old woman. But Kira soon discovers that the robe hids a secret, and so does the council...

Comments: this book is good for fantasy-lovers, though it doesn't necessarily have magic. It's a story of secrets, and of family, and I thought it was pretty good. I thought it could have been a little longer, though. I felt like the plot was just beginning when I turned the last page. I didn't know about the book The Giver when I read this book, and I've heard that The Giver would have helped me better understand Gathering Blue. So now I'm reading The Giver, and then The Messenger, which is the third book.

The characters in this book aren't very well described, in my opinion. I felt like I didn't know them throughout most of the story. Maybe reading The Giver would have helped with that, and maybe not. But it was like I was reading a story about strangers, or as if I walked into a movie theater halfway through the movie and had no idea who everyone was. Ok, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but I really didn't know much about the characters. The plot was good and story line well-thought out, but I think there could have been more action, more stuff happening. I'm not saying I want some fights to break out; I mean I would have liked to have mroe stuff going on to keep me interested.

Rating: I rate this book a six out of ten. Just barely.