| Messenger [book review] | |
Abstract/OtherAbstract
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Lowry, Lois. Messenger. Houghton Mifflin, 2004. ISBN 0618404414. $16.00. 169 pp. Reviewer: Sandra L. Tidwell Reading Level: Intermediate, Young Adult Rating: Outstanding Genre: Fantasy Fiction; Adventure Stories; Subject: Utopian Societies--Juvenile Fiction; Community life--Juvenile Fiction; Matty lives with Seer in Village, a utopian society situated at the edge of Forest. Matty is anxious for his "true" name to be given him, for everyone in Village is given a “true name”, a description of the job they perform, and a gift. He thinks his name will be Messenger because he already serves as Leader's messenger to the people who live in and beyond Village. He has only recently discovered his gift of healing. Village, however, is changing. The Trade Mart, which facilitates the trading of objects in a kind of swap-meet like manner, is changing, as well. Village people are trading inner moral values, such as kindness, for selfish objects and desires. When the majority of the Village people decide that they want to close the Village to all outsiders, Leader sends Matty through Forest to convince Kira, Seer's gifted daughter, to come before Village's borders close forever. In the dangerous journeys through Forest, Matty sacrifices his gift and is granted his “true name”. Through Matty's sacrifice, Village and its people become once again a nurturing and caring society. This fantasy novel is considered to be a companion title to The Giver (1993) and Gathering Blue (2000), as Messenger reintroduces such characters as Jonas, Matty, and Kira, however it can stand alone. Lowry's writing is masterful, making the characters real and understandable without laborious descriptive text or illustrations. Lowry skillfully weaves characterization and other descriptive information into the plot so the reader can easily visualize the characters, events, and setting. Like other Lowry novels, Messenger can serve as a startingoff point for current social issues such as immigration and materialism in a class discussion., Children's Book and Play Review, February 2005 |
Authors
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Tidwell, Sandra L.; |
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Contributors
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Lowry, Lois; |
Publication Detail
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Publisher : Farnsworth Juvenile Literature Library, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Type : text Format : text/pdf |
Date Detail
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2005-02 |
Subject
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Book review;, Fantasy Fiction; Adventure Stories;, Utopias--Juvenile fiction; Community life--Juvenile fiction; Books--Reviews; |
Coverage
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- |
Relation
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Children's Book and Play Review; Scholarly Periodicals; |
Source
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Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University |
Copyright Information
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The information available on this site, including any text, computer codes, data, artwork, video, audio, images or graphics (collectively the "Material") are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Parties other than Brigham Young University ("BYU") may own copyright in the Material. We encourage the use of this Material for non-profit and educational purposes only, such as personal research, teaching and private study. For these limited purposes, Material from this web site may be displayed and printed, and all copies must include any copyright notice originally included with the Material. Additionally, a credit line must be included with each item used, citing the article or review author, title or article or review, title of the database, sponsoring agency, date of your access to the electronic file, and the electronic address., Copyright 2002, Brigham Young University, public |
Other Details
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Languages : English; eng; en |
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