This was not quite as fabulous as “The Giver”, but wonderful none-the-less. Lowry is a gifted storyteller who truly understands the style of show not tell. She feeds you little bits of detail, and then when she gives you the last clue, you can’t believe you didn’t know it all the time.

Kira lives such an entirely different existance from Jonas (in “The Giver”). Her people have nothing. They live in “cotts”, scavange for food, and live in fear of the “beasts”. Kira has a crippled leg and when her mother dies, is nearly killed herself. Only her talent with stitching saves her. She is taken in by the guardians and begins to see the truth about her community.

I can hardly wait to read the final story in the trilogy, “The Messenger” which ties the two books together. All this, because “The Giver” is on the challenged booklist.

3.2004
9/10 Stars

While hanging out in Barnes and Nobles, I saw that this said “companion novel to The Giver”, so of course I had to buy it. It’s not The Giver by any means, but it’s an interesting read, even for a college student. ;-)