Gathering Blue

The Giver is the first book in a series of four. Next in line is Gathering Blue.

This book's setting is about as opposite to Jonas's world as it can get. The people are taught to, and even thrive off of, fear. The village is dirty and full of dirty people, many of whom would stab a person in the back if given half a reason. The only form of government these people have is another Council, made up of only men, that rarely interferes with any matter (in a good way, anyways) unless asked.

The main character for this story is a crippled girl named Kira. She would have been killed at birth, as was the custom for deformed babies, but her mother fought for her daughter. By this time, Katrina, Kira's mother, was widowed because her husband had been in a hunting accident. Katrina was not about to lose her husband and daughter.

But by the start of the book, Kira is a full orphan; Katrina died of a disease.

Kira once again faced death at the hands of other villagers, because she had no one left to protect her. At the last moment, however, she talked her main enemy into taking the matter to the Council. The Council ruled in favor of keeping Kira in the only modern building of the community and giving Kira's mother's land to the woman who wished to kill Kira.

Why would the Council do such a thing? Why take on a crippled orphan girl barely in her teens?

Kira had a gift. She could sew like no other, and there were times when her sewing could even tell the future.

Oh, yes, the Council wanted that gift. Wanted it desperately.

How far would they go to keep Kira with them? How far had they gone before this point? What else will be revealed along the way? Gathering Blue holds all the answers.