Making a Choice

By Raphael

I read two books by Lois Lowry, “The Giver” and “Gathering Blue.” “The Giver” is about a boy named Jonas, who is living in a utopian community in the future. “Gathering Blue” is about a girl, Kira, who is living at the same time as Jonas but in a different community.

The books, “The Giver” and “Gathering Blue,” are both held at the same time. Jonas and Kira are both living in a type of community, where the council kills a person secretly because of the mistakes the person did. Jonas and Kira both have special roles in their respective communities. They are chosen to do their roles because they have powers. Jonas’ power is to receive and keep memories. He was the chosen one to be the Receiver in his community. The Receiver’s job is to receive and keep all the memories from the Giver. Meanwhile, Kira’s power is to see the future through her magical weaving.

These are the differences between “The Giver” and “Gathering Blue.” Kira’s community is barbaric; they live for money, don’t care for others, and are not well educated. On the other hand, Jonas’ community is civilized; they have fine jobs and are well educated. They are also well fed and appear to be happy all the time. But after Jonas knew that the Council kills people, he wanted to leave the community and try to save a baby who was supposed to be killed. Meanwhile, after Kira knew that the council was trying to kill her father and other people, she, however, decided to stay and tried to change the ways of the council.

I prefer the book “The Giver.” It is more entertaining than “Gathering Blue.” If I were to choose who I would want to follow, I would chose Kira's decision. I would choose it because if I leave the people, they would suffer. And if I help make a difference, the council would probably change.

How about you? Would you choose to stay like Kira or leave like Jonas?

Raphael is 13 years old. He is the oldest among three children. He plans to read more of Jonas and Kira in Lois Lowry's "Messenger," the third book from this trilogy.