The Giver or Gathering Blue... Which One Won?

Which book did you like better...The Giver or Gathering Blue? I liked The Giver better because it had more action and more meaning. Gathering Blue was boring and confusing. Nothing exciting happened in it at all. What did you think about the two books? Which one did you like better? Why?

The Giver vs Gathering Blue

In the two books, there have been some similarities and some differences. Right away, we discover that the main character in each of the books is a younger child. 12 or 13. We find this out in Gathering Blue because Kira's name is 2 syllables and we find this out in The Giver since Jonas has to go to the ceremony of 12. There is a December ceremony in the Giver that they host every year. It is important because it is like a birthday for everyone and it is the day that everyone matures. In Gathering Blue, they also have an important ceremony but this one is in the fall and this one is called "The Gathering". A few obvious differences in the two books are that in The Giver, no one has any feelings or can see any color but in Gathering Blue, everyone feels their own feelings and sees color. In fact, a very important part of the book has to do with color. That is the thread that Kira is dyeing so she can work on the singer's robe. One very important similarity in the two books is that both the main characters in each of them [Jonas and Kira] seemed to have a special gift or power. Kira's was that she had a way with the thread and Jonas's was that he had the power to see beyond things. These powers are very important to each of the books. Both the characters get special jobs based on their powers.Another important similarity is that in each of the books, people are killed if they have a disability or if they broke the rules a certain amount of times. In Gathering Blue, people are taken to the "field" where they are left to die. In The Giver, people are released, which means people are killed... (but you don't find that out until towards the end. In Gathering Blue, you find out about the "field" in the very beginning.) Also, in the Giver, their are no grandparents or step parents or aunts or anything like that. We learn this because in the memory of love, Jonas learns the real meaning of family. In Gathering Blue, Kira has a grandfather and a real father. She already knew the true meaning of family. The two books have many similarities and many differences. They are 2 very different books, but they are also the same.

THE GIVER IS OVER!

Now The Giver is over. I think this was a pretty good book. It was kind of boring in some parts but it was exciting in most. It didn't have that much action but it had a lot of feeling. My favorite genre of books is romance, so this wasn't one of my favorites. The main topic of the book was love though and that is what made it good. So...tell me! Did you like the book or did you hate it? What was your favorite part? What parts surprised you and what part disappointed you! I can't wait to find out!

The Bridge to a new Life

Chapters 21-23 of The Giver

The plan started but there was a glitch. Jonas was forced to flee from the community that night. He only had little food, his bike, and Gabriel. He had Gabriel because at dinner the night before; he found out that Gabriel was going to be released the next day. Jonas could not let that happen so he brought Gabriel with him. Now Jonas is riding his bike. He is out of the community. He bikes and bikes for days and days occasionally stopping when he hears a plane. The planes are looking for him; hoping to find him; but he can not let that happen. He keeps warm by the memories he has and he keeps Gabe quiet by transporting him calm memories.
But soon, the landscape is changing and it gets colder. Jonas doesn't have enough memories and he wishes the Giver had given him more and gotten him more prepared. The searchers no longer looked for him. The only thing that flew above were the birds that he had learned about what seemed like such a long time ago. They were out of food but ate berries and tried to catch some animals that Jonas had no memories of. They were beginning to suffer. They were starving. Jonas felt a destination getting closer and closer and he did not give up no matter how hungry or cold he was. He wasn't worried about himself anymore; he was worried about Gabriel. He walks up a steep hill and starts to climb it. Suddenly all his memories surround him. Voices, laughter, safeness, security, and comfort. He pushes further and finally sees lights. A destination lay ahead. Hopefully one with love.

Chapters 18-20 of The Giver

In Chapter 18, Jonas learns about the last person that was assigned the job of The Receiver. Her name was Rosemary and she had been in training for 5 weeks when she decided it was too much for her and she asked to be released. That was the failed attempt at a new receiver that happened 10 years ago. Jonas asks the Giver about release. He asks the Giver what would happen if he were to die. Where would all the memories go? The Giver tells him that the memories would be released into the community and that the community would suffer from all the pain. So, nothing could happen to either one of them; Jonas or the Giver.
Jonas tells the Giver that his father had to release a twin this morning and he wondered how it went. The Giver told him that if Jonas wanted to , they could get the videotape and watch his father doing the release ceremony. This surprises Jonas and scares him; at last he got to see what a release was like. They get the tape and watch as Jonas's father weighs both the twins. His secretary takes the heavier twin away and Jonas watches as his father injects a shot into the temple in the newchild's brain...
His father had just killed the child.
Jonas is overwhelmed with feelings. He can not believe that release means to be killed. The Giver tells him that he watched Rosemary's release. Or at least part of it. Rosemary asked to inject the shot herself, and the Giver didn't dare watch that part.
Jonas does not wan to go home to see his lying father so the Giver lets him spend the night with himself, in the Annex. They decided that the way their community is living, is no way to live. It is not right, not being able to feel anything or love each other. They make a plan.
Jonas was going to leave at midnight and get all the food remains that people left out. Jonas will go into the Annex. He will have left a note for his parents that he went out for a morning bicycle ride. Jonas will get in the trunk of a vehicle the next morning and he would be taken to Elsewhere. The community would soon discover that he is gone and they would grieve him. The Giver would stay behind to help everyone through all the pain. Jonas is upset by this because he doesn't want to live without the Giver; the one person he loves. The Giver tells him that he feels the same way for Jonas and that he had felt that way when he lost his daughter; Rosemary ten years ago. The Receiver had been his daughter! The one that couldn't take the pressure so she signed up for release was the Giver's child.

Chapter 16-17 of The Giver

Jonas did not want to continue to receive memories but he knew he had to so he kept going. One day, Jonas asks the Giver to give him his favorite memory, so the Giver does. It is of a family on Christmas Day. They are all warm and happy and they have gifts. They are a family. On this day, Jonas learns the word love. He wonders why his community doesn't know the word love. How could that word be dangerous? He goes home and asks his parents if they love him. They tell him that that is a meaningless word. He disagrees with them but doesn't tell them that. He is sad that his friends and family don't get to experience the feeling of love.
The next day is an unscheduled holiday so Jonas gets the day off. Jonas goes to see his friends. His friends are outside playing a game that they had always played. They were shooting each other and pretending to die.; They were pretending to be in war. Right away Jonas is upset because he knows the real experience of death and he knows it is not right that his friends are laughing about it. Right away he asks them to stop and all his friends leave him; annoyed with him for ruining their game.
Jonas's dad shares at dinner, that twins are being born but that one of them will have to be released because they can't have 2 of the same people in the community. Jonas's father will have to do the release ceremony the next day. Jonas wanders what it will be like. What were you expecting it to be like?