Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, 2000 Delacorte Press

     Kira was born with a deformed leg and, in a society which casts out any imperfection into the Fields to die of exposure and the Beasts, her leg is a liability. When Kira's mother dies the ruling Council of Edifice comes to her home in the slums and brings her to the ceremonial audience chamber so Kira may prove her worth before the Council sends her to the Fields and certain death.
     Jamison, a member of the council, defends Kira and her needlework skill using an old acquaintance with her long-dead father to find the girl work. Jamison and the council set Kira to work with aged Annabella on the embroidery of a beautiful robe which shows their history. The robe is worn annually at the Gathering where the history of the people's struggle is retold by the Singer and their belief in brute superiority is reinforced when imperfection drives their society from its glory of old to this new existence of bickering and infighting.
     Annabella teaches Kira the magic of dyes and helps her improve her needlework. Kira begins to believe the idyllic life she leads when the begins to make friends in her new home. Matt is a young orphan who lives in the elaborate palace with Kira and the other orphans. Thomas is a woodworker who helps repair the staff the Singer uses to remember the songs of their history. Jo is a young girl whose talent with song secures her a place as the next Singer.
     But Annabella doesn't allow Kira to believe her world is as she dreams. When Annabella dies her offhand comments and pointed remarks make Kira look deeper at the people and events around her. After the annual Gathering Matt disappears. When he finally returns he brings a strange blind man from the Village of Healing. This man's appearance brings the subtle injustices to the forefront and encourages not only Kira but also Thomas and Jo to use their exalted places to alter expectations.
     In his attempt to gather blue for Kira and her needlework Matt links Gathering Blue to The Giver and The Messenger in this post-apocalyptic world. Inability and physical weakness do not determine the fates of Kira, Matt, Thomas, and Jo. Readers of middle ages can easily access this story of hope despite the hard truths revealed.