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Title: Messenger by Lois Lowry ISBN: 0-618-40441-4 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books Pub. Date: 26 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (19 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: You fill in the blanks
Comment: I did not like this book as much as the first two in the series. However, art is not always supposed to cheer us up. I think that Lowry is the kind of author who really wants the reader to become the storyteller and fill in the blanks. There is no neat package at the end, even in the book which is the third of the trilogy. Matty's true name communicates what I believe to be Lowry's central message. I don't want to spoil the end, so I won't reveal his true name, but the following quote is similarly revealing, and my favorite of the book. "So you could meet in the middle with your gifts? It wouldn't be so hard if you only went half way. If you met." Despite the abrupt ending, Messenger is a must read for those who have read The Giver and Gathering Blue.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Connection Between Two Worlds
Comment: While this book isn't exactly your typical fairy tale, if you like magical stories, you'll like this book. Have you read The Giver and Gathering Blue? If not, you should definitely read these books before you read Messenger. Lois Lowry connects these two books in Messenger.
In Messenger the main character's name is Matty. Matty is the only one who can travel through Forest without being killed, so he takes messages to outside villages. He hopes that when he gets his real name he will be Messenger. At the beginning of this book Matty's friend Ramon gets a "Gaming Machine" that his family traded for at Trade Mart. Then, some of the people of Village, who used to be very welcoming to new people in their village, want to close Village to all outsiders. A meeting is called to decide whether Village will be closed or not. Soon, some "new ones" come to Village. They are welcomed as usual, but a small group of people protest. The schoolteacher, who used to be very welcoming to "new ones," leads them. The people of Village are given names based on what they do. For example, Seer, the man Matty lives with that is blind; Leader; and Mentor, the schoolteacher. Matty discovers he has a power to heal things. He saves a frog, a dog, and a puppy from dying. Then, Matty decides he wants to go and see what Trade Mart is like. When Matty is there, he notices odd procedures. He also notices changes in behavior of people who have traded. You can hear what each person is trading for but not what the person is trading for it. One change in behavior is when one woman whose husband walks slowly, yells at her husband to hurry up which she has never done before. Next, Jean, Mentor's daughter, gives Matty her puppy, which Leader names Frolic. Frolic goes everywhere with Matty. Matty goes to the meeting that will decide whether Village will stay open to outsiders anymore or not. The decision ends up being that Village will close, although Matty is opposed to this. He is sent to post the message that Village is closing. He also agrees to bring Seer's daughter, Kira, back to Village before it closes. Before he leaves, he is told not to spend his gift and has to resist the urge to use it when he sees Ramon is sick. On the way through Forest, it is a little more challenging than usual. Matty learns about Kira's power to see the future. When Matty takes Kira back through the Forest, they face many unusual challenges. Some of these are burning sap and poking branches. Leader goes after Matty and Kira because he can see beyond and tell that they are in trouble. To save the world, using his power to heal, Matty has to make some major sacrifices.
I give this book three out of five stars. This is because it was disappointing compared to The Giver and Gathering Blue. This book has a slow start. It takes a while to get to the action. The book doesn't grab you in right away. Some things that were good about this book are that is was really interesting when you would find a connection to either The Giver or Gathering Blue. One example is that Matty was the mischievous little boy that Kira was friends with. The characters of this book are interesting. For example, it is interesting to see how Matty changes. He used to call himself "the fiercest of the fierce." Now, Matty doesn't do that. You also get into this book later.
Matty is a brave boy. He is proud that he is the only one who can go into Forest. It is unique that he can go through Forest. He is eager to get his real name, and he wants it to be Messenger. Matty was happy with his life until things began to change. The nice people and things of Village turned bad. In this book, Matty discovers that he has a power. His power is that he can heal things that are hurt or dying. He healed a frog whose leg was bitten almost all the way off. He also healed a sick puppy and its mother. This is something that is unique to him.
A key scene in this novel is at the very end, when Matty saves the world. Matty is almost dying because Forest turned bad and is hurting them with things like burning sap. Leader, using his power to see beyond, and Kira, using her power to see ahead, meet. Leader tells Kira that they need Matty's power, now. Matty doesn't think there is any way that he has enough energy to use his power, but he turns over and puts his hands on the ground. He feels his power going out of him. Everything is better. Forest isn't evil anymore, Mentor is back to his old ways of reading poetry and being welcoming, and Ramon is no longer sick. Matty sees all of these things changing. He drifts out of his body. He watches himself giving all his energy to the world.
This scene was a really good way to end the book. This is because it just resolves everything in a nice way. Things are a little more normal back in Village and the people have stopped trying to close Village.
In conclusion, I somewhat recommend this book. If you like magic or you like to discover little connections and other interesting things, this is a great book for you. I would recommend that before you read this book, you should read The Giver and Gathering Blue.
Rating: 4
Summary: Recommended, but must read the other two books first.
Comment: I read this book so as to know which books are best for recommending to my children and other youths with whom I work. This is the fifth Lowry book I have read, and I would recommend each for as early as the middle/junior high school age group. I think that many adults would also appreciate the stories.
Of the three books in this trilogy (The Giver, and Gathering Blue being the others), I found this book to be equal to Gathering Blue, but neither as good as the Giver. The current book is full of religious and secular-humanistic metaphors. We have the savior figure dying for the sins of others, the citizens losing their souls for selfish and materialistic desires, and the author uses anti-immigrant attitudes to emphasize the loss of the public soul.
As with some other Lowry books, the ending will leave some unsatisfied. However, I enjoy endings with the resolution is left to the reader's imagination. This is particularly of value for sparking conversations within one's circle of friends, family or classroom. It is also a good technique for developing one's creativity. I read other Lowry books with my children and they led to good dinning table conversations. I fully recommend this book for ages ten and older, but the story will be lost for those who have not read the other two books.
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Title: Gathering Blue by LOIS LOWRY ISBN: 0440229499 Publisher: Laure Leaf Pub. Date: 10 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: The Giver by LOIS LOWRY ISBN: 0440237688 Publisher: Laure Leaf Pub. Date: 10 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread (NEWBERY MEDAL BOOK) by Kate Dicamillo, Timothy B. Ering ISBN: 0763617229 Publisher: Candlewick Press Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes ISBN: 0060535431 Publisher: Greenwillow Pub. Date: 12 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry ISBN: 0618282319 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 28 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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