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Messenger | 
 enlarge | Author: Lois Lowry
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  103 reviews
Sales Rank: 109130
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0440239125
EAN: 9780440239123
ASIN: 0440239125
Publication Date: January 24, 2006
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Product Description
For the past six years, Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man, known for his special sight. Village was a place that welcomed newcomers, but something sinister has seeped into Village and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. Matty has been invaluable as a messenger. Now he must make one last journey through the treacherous forest with his only weapon, a power he unexpectedly discovers within himself.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 98 more reviews...
 Could have been longer and more developed April 15, 2008
I read The Giver when I was a lot younger and it left such an impression on me that I decided, at the age of 26, to venture into the young adult section to buy it. I was thrilled to find out that there were two sequels to the novel and quickly got Gathering Blue and Messenger. I loved Gathering Blue, but Messenger left me somehow wanting more.
**** SPOILERS****
I think the biggest problem with the novel is that none of the themes seem well developed. The concept that Lowry introduces in this novel that people can trade something from themselves to receive things they desire is not expanded upon at all. This makes the ending seem cheap when she throws in that Matty exchanges himself to heal his world. I wish that the novel went into more detail, but because Matty is vague on the details, we are left in the dark.
I was also excited initially to think that we would be able to see Thomas and Jo again (two of my favorite characters from Gathering Blue). Sadly, Thomas is only mentioned in passing and Jo is not mentioned at all. How did Kira end up living in the hut that Annabella lived in? What happened to her job of finishing the Singer's robe? Was it done in six years? What happened with Jo? Was she chained up and held in servitude like the last singer? And what suddenly occurred that could cause Kira's world to become better? In Gathering Blue, no one helped anyone else, girls were not allowed to learn, etc. What made the change? The world of Gathering Blue worked because it was in such stark contrast to the world of the Giver (Utopian vs. dystopia). Was Kira's world suddenly becoming more like Village and Jonas' childhood home?
All-in-all, I feel that this novel was WAY too rushed. I think that Lois Lowry could have taken more time to fill in some holes that were going to leave the readers wanting more. She did a poor job of tying together the first two novels with this one. It seems as though she just plugged the characters from the first two novels into a storyline and hoped that they would be sufficient.
A normal kind of book from Lois Lowry January 30, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I must admit that I have never liked Lois Lowry. My first introduction to her was though "The Giver", then "Gathering Blue". "Number the Stars" I read for school (probably the best I read) and then, on a friend's advise, I read "Messenger". I will not be reading anther Lois Lowry book I fear for a long, long time.
My biggest complaint, for all her books, is the endings. Messenger did not disappoint me. Her ending, just like them all, just ended. It left less confusion than it did with "Giver" or "Gathering Blue" but still, it left many questions that cannot, by the reader, be answered. Questions about the Forest in particular, and Matty. Personally, I wanted the reasoning behind what was happening explained, and not just by someone else who is guessing just as much as I am. Never does she explain what was going on with the Forest and how the conflict was fully resolved by what was done. (I know, I am being vague and I'm sorry but I am trying not to give anything away.) To be honest, the whole story in the book could be repeated in just a few years.
Another thing I didn't like, again dealing with the ending, although she did this through out the book, it was noticed the most in the ending, is she would rush through a section, giving very little details. This ends up making the reader, especially a fast one, the feeling of watching a movie on slow fast-forward. When I was done, I felt I had to stop and digest everything, which took away the happy feeling that should come at the end of a book.
Things I did like about this book:
1) What happened with Matty. I liked Matty, although I could not remember much of what happened to him in "Gathering Blue". (which I haven't read in over three years.)
2) Leader. However, that could be because I have had a lot of leadership type, aloof, blue-eyed, dark-haired men in my readings and generally assume that if they are on the good side they are cool. I don't know how much I can say that he related to Jonas but, by himself, I liked him.
3) I think the plot had potential, if developed enough.
However, in spite of the few good points, I think that because of the dangling ending(s), I would never recommend this book, or any other of her works, to anyone looking for a good read. IF you like Lois Lowry and her endings, you might like it as a stand-alone or sequel to Gathering Blue, but other than that, there are many other books that are worthwhile reading out there before this one.
 very good book, but implausable January 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read this book right after I finished The gathering Blue, and The Giver before that. I had thought that The Giver was breathtakeing (it brought me to tears), and that Gathering Blue was beautiful because both of those plots seemed plusable in the near future. While Messenger had a good begining (a Utopian society where the disabled and different seek refuge), I thought that portraying the Forest with a menacing personality and not giving a reason for it left a loophole, and there should have been more exlanation behind the Trading people did. Where they trading away their souls for what they needed, or were they trading away love? I also thought it was uneccessary to introduce magic into this book when it wasn't in the previous two books. The way I had rationalized Jonas's ability to "see beyond" was that he became aware of things that nobody in his origional community were ever taught to be aware of (like color. If you don't teach a child the concept and differences of color, is he aware of it?), and that Kira's gift with weaving was brought about by imagination and creatifity. When I read that Matty had talent as a healer, I was hoping that he had an intuition about the body & the healing nature of plants, not some inner magic that was never explained. I also thought the romance between Kira & Jonus was rushed & maybe uneccessary for this plot. All in all, I was dissappointed in this book after reading the other two
 Avoid if you are over the age of 10 January 22, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was an insipid rehashing of the mythical story of Jesus Christ. Matty, who was my favorite character from Gathering Blue (a vastly superior book)is taking the Jesus Christ pose as he makes the ultimate sacrifice by saving humankind and the world itself in one fell swoop by dying. Allusions to Christ abound throughout the book until the whole process becomes trite and silly. As we are all familiar with this storyline it was a tedious read with an ending I fully expected. Try "The Giver" if you are interested in Lowry's work, as it's a far more thoughtfully developed and mature work not stunted by Lowry's unfortunate need to proselytize.
 The Ideal home changes November 18, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Identified as the "Companion": to Newbery-winning "The Giver" and "Gathering Blue", I picked up Messenger with high expectations. The other two were terrific, stunning in their own ways. I wasn't disappointed. Lowry's created world in which the three villages of the three stories exist is clever and well developed. To this adult reader, although it's never stated, it seems these villages rise from the post-Apocalypse world. As in the other two, Lowry creates the finest of reading, a youthful main character worth caring about greatly (Matty here after Jonas and Kira in the other two books), a believable world like ours in its variety of people, but including such things as individuals with powers beyond normal, and a compelling story line with strong changes between good and bad circumstances. Lowry is a master of mood, particularly foreboding or uncertainty in the environment. Those moods both play strong roles here. The combination of strong character development, creative and credible setting, and the establishing of the mood of people and situations is a powerful one. They make Messenger terrific before you get to its moving and emotionally powerful conclusion. Messenger is recommended highly, even to adults, but with the note that, while it stands alone well, reading the three in the order The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger will bring some events or characters into a better light. Great.
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