The Worlds of Lois Lowry 3 Copy Boxed Set (The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger) [Paperback]

Lois Lowry (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 22, 2006

When Jonas turns 12, he is singled out for special training from The Giver. Now, it's time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
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Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. When she is given a task that no other community member can carry out, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets--and an extraordinary power of her own.
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Matty has always been proud to be Village's Messenger. But now that Village is closing its once-welcoming doors, Matty must make one last journey through the treacherous forest, and must make a great sacrifice to save the place he loves.
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The Worlds of Lois Lowry are brought to life through three extraordinary characters, and the unexpected connections among their lives.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lois Lowry is an award-winning author who has written many popular books for young adults. She was twice the recipient of the Newbery Medal, for Number the Stars and for The Giver. The author lives in Cambridge, MA.

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Paperback
• Publisher: Ember (August 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385733895
• ISBN-13: 978-0385733892
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.9 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader.s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association.s Children.s Book Award. Ms. Lowry now divides her time between Cambridge and an 1840s farmhouse in Maine. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com

author interview
A CONVERSATION WITH LOIS LOWRY ABOUT THE GIVER

Q. When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

A. I cannot remember ever not wanting to be a writer.

Q. What inspired you to write The Giver?

A. Kids always ask what inspired me to write a particular book or how did I get an idea for a particular book, and often it's very easy to answer that because books like the Anastasia books come from a specific thing; some little event triggers an idea. But a book like The Giver is a much more complicated book, and therefore it comes from much more complicated places--and many of them are probably things that I don't even recognize myself anymore, if I ever did. So it's not an easy question to answer.

I will say that the whole concept of memory is one that interests me a great deal. I'm not sure why that is, but I've always been fascinated by the thought of what memory is and what it does and how it works and what we learn from it. And so I think probably that interest of my own and that particular subject was the origin, one of many, of The Giver.

Q. How did you decide what Jonas should take on his journey?

A. Why does Jonas take what he does on his journey? He doesn't have much time when he sets out. He originally plans to make the trip farther along in time, and he plans to prepare for it better. But then, because of circumstances, he has to set out in a very hasty fashion. So what he chooses is out of necessity. He takes food because he needs to survive. He takes the bicycle because he needs to hurry and the bike is faster than legs. And he takes the baby because he is going out to create a future. And babies always represent the future in the same way children represent the future to adults. And so Jonas takes the baby so the baby's life will be saved, but he takes the baby also in order to begin again with a new life.

Q. When you wrote the ending, were you afraid some readers would want more details or did you want to leave the ending open to individual interpretation?

A. Many kids want a more specific ending to The Giver. Some write, or ask me when they see me, to spell it out exactly. And I don't do that. And the reason is because The Giver is many things to many different people. People bring to it their own complicated beliefs and hopes and dreams and fears and all of that. So I don't want to put my own feelings into it, my own beliefs, and ruin that for people who create their own endings in their minds.

Q. Is it an optimistic ending? Does Jonas survive?

A. I will say that I find it an optimistic ending. How could it not be an optimistic ending, a happy ending, when that house is there with its lights on and music is playing? So I'm always kind of surprised and disappointed when some people tell me that they think the boy and the baby just die. I don't think they die. What form their new life takes is something I like people to figure out for themselves. And each person will give it a different ending. I think they're out there somewhere and I think that their life has changed and their life is happy, and I would like to think that's true for the people they left behind as well.

Q. In what way is your book Gathering Blue a companion to The Giver?

A. Gathering Blue postulates a world of the future, as The Giver does. I simply created a different kind of world, one that had regressed instead of leaping forward technologically as the world of The Giver has. It was fascinating to explore the savagery of such a world. I began to feel that maybe it coexisted with Jonas's world . . . and that therefore Jonas could be a part of it in a tangential way. So there is a reference to a boy with light eyes at the end of Gathering Blue. He can be Jonas or not, as you wish.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#22 in Books > Teens

#22 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Trilogy July 3, 2007

By M. Espinoza

Format:Paperback

This box-set is one of the most enduring trilogies I have ever read. The first book is an instant classic, The Giver. I actually read this book back in 1994, when I was in the 4th grade. I read it now again, and I am still just as enamored with it. I didn't even know there were two other books that followed until I did some research. The next two books are just as good, and the best part is that are not carbon-copies. One could actually read them by themselves, but it's so much better when you know the stories before them.

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars "The Giver" is amazing November 10, 2008

By Angel

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The only book in this set that I loved was "The Giver". The other two were ok if you really want to know what happens to Jonas, or if you want to know more about the world that Lois Lowry created. But honestly I'd rather have just read the first book and left the rest to my imagination. Gathering Blue was ok, a little drawn out and not very exciting. The messenger was more interesting then Gathering Blue. I feel that the fault of the two lies with my own expectations and the lack of wonder and the mystic of "The Giver". After reading "The Giver" I was left with so many questions and a sense of awe. After reading the entire trilogy I was left underwhelmed and disappointed. In my opinion "The Giver" is a must read, the other two could be skipped.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lois Lowry is amazing October 9, 2009

By Marles

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I simply love these books. They are children's books about dystopian societies, each one featuring a different main character and village. Very good lessons about what is important about life and individuality.I was very impressed with the box set that has the cover artwork from the three books on each side. It also includes a small-ish poster that is a "map" of the three villages. A wonderful read for young and old readers alike.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and very intriguing January 12, 2009

By Amy M. Earls

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

These books, which are somewhat chronicaled, are well written and very intriguing. While many of the characters made me quite furious due to their way of thinking, the main characters always show great strength and a sense of justice in the face of what their surrounding communities are doing. While I didn't really care for the endings of each book (Lowry pretty much leaves the reader hanging), the books were very good, and they held my attention.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 Wonderful Books August 9, 2010

By SMULLET

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can pretty clearly remember the first time I read The Giver. I was probably nine or ten, and had developed a love for reading. I read hundreds of books, but the only one that really stood out to me or made a real impression was The Giver. I was too young to catch some of the subtleties, but I could still understand the emotion and plot of the book. It piqued my interest and I have loved it ever since. I just recently decided I should reread the book and get the other two with it just for kicks. I found myself blazing through them, and enjoying them all even though I'm not a fan of children's books in general. Although the greatest book of the series will always be The Giver, the other two were still interesting reads. In some ways I think The Giver was cheapened a bit by having the story half-continue on into the other books (with the same character) However, that was not my choice to make, it is Lois Lowry's world, and her characters to do with as she pleases. Overall, I enjoyed these books, and they would be a good set to have if you liked the Giver or if you have kids.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best trilogies June 17, 2008

By Camila

Format:Paperback

I remember that my brother bought The Giver for school and he told me it was actually good (which is rare since he doens't like to read) so I decided to read it. I was absolutely emerged with it and keep the name of the author in my mind. One day I saw Gathering Blue and noticed it was by Lois Lowry so I read it without realizing it was a "sequel." I read it and loved it as well and then noticed that the inside flap had The Messenger, so of course I had to read it as well. It was when I finished the last book that I realized it was a trilogy. I loved how she wrote all three books because regardless of having read all three books or not you would not even notice they are related to each other as she writes the books as stand alone pieces. I highly recommned anyone to read these books as they deal with issues that make you think while enjoy a great story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Set January 17, 2008

By Julie Williams

Format:Paperback

All three of these are wonderful children's books! Having the three in a set together makes a great gift also.
I suggest them for advanced 4th graders up to around 7th grade.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great boxed-set February 22, 2010

By S. Rutter

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I didn't know before this year that _The Giver_ had two other books that were companion texts. I was excited to find them all three collected together in one attractive boxed-set. My students have been fighting all year to see who could borrow _Gathering Blue_ and _The Messenger_ next.