Looking for a good book to read?

Looking for a good book to read? You found the right place! I love Young Adult Literature and love recommending interesting titles to my students even more. This blog will recommend titles of YA Literature that I have recently read and want others to discover as well. Enjoy! Under each post is the "Comment" option. Feel free to share your opinions about each of the books so that other students can read your opinions as well.


You might have noticed the recent makeover each of the posts got. I rearranged the posts so that the summaries are hidden. If you are curious about a book and want to know more about it, click on "Read more >>", the summaries are hidden there for more information. Have fun!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Messenger

Title: Messenger
Author: Lois Lowry
Genre: Fantasy

You will like this book if:
  • You liked The Giver and Gathering Blue.  These three books are meant to be companion novels to each other.
  • You enjoy reading dystopian literature.
  • You like to imagine a place where all people are welcome.
  • You would like to trade some of your valuable things for other, new valuable things.
  • You wonder if have or would like any special gifts that others don't have.
You will not like this book if:
  • You like to read books that are realistic.
  • You don't have patience for books with corrupt characters.
  • You like stories that answer more questions rather than give you more questions to think about.
Fun Fact #1: This book is the last companion novel with The Giver and Gathering Blue.  This novel is different though.  The first two novels have completely different characters.  In Messenger, the characters in all of the books come together. 

Fun Fact #2:  I think that this book, more than the others, asks readers to look at the flaws of individuals rather than the flaws of communities or groups of people.  The antagonist is sickening and fascinating at the same time.  This novel was my favorite of the three!

Summary: Matty is back!  Matty, the young, rambunctious, dirty boy in Gathering Blue is the main character in this novel.  Years later, he is happily living in Village and has grown up and changed significantly.  His life with Seer has become a happy one and his community is growing strong.  All people in this village are given true names eventually based on thier skills.  Matty hopes to be Messenger because he is the only one that can travel through Forest safely, but there is a secret gift that he is beginning to explore and absolutely scares him.  Matty and Seer, along with Leader (another familiar characters from the companion novels), begin to notice difference in their people as others in the community start to express interest in closing the walls to outsiders.  Matty must get through Forest and bring Kira (also from Gathering Blue) before the opportunity is lost forever.  Will he be able to do it safely and will he know when the time is right to use his gift?

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