Messenger

Lowry, Lois. 2004. Messenger.

The third in a trilogy by Lois Lowry, it ties together the stories told in The Giver and Gathering Blue. Matt, a character first introduced in Gathering Blue, lives with a blind man, Seer, the father of Kira. They live in a village where everyone is welcome. In this village “differences” and “illnesses” and “defects” don’t make you worthless and expendable. It has since its founding become a safe haven for those escaping harsher environments and villages. But all that begins to change. Matty has noticed that nothing has quite been the same since the TradeMart came to town. His neighbors are changing overnight. Those that used to be nice, generous, compassionate have become mean, bitter, and unwelcoming. Interests are changing. Morals are changing. The Forest is changing. Soon Matty, the Seer, and the Leader have no choice but to accept the new concensus that the city would become closed to new people. No more welcoming arms. No more safe haven. In two or three weeks, a wall will go up around the village. Matt only has a limited amount of time to reach his old friend, Kira, and persuade her to come with him and be reunited with her father. It’s a dangerous journey. A journey that demands sacrifices all around.

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