Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

I just finished this fantastic book yesterday. The first time I read it was in eighth grade and I wanted to read it again. The book is the second book in The Giver quartet. It has one small reference to The Giver—if you think of it as being a reference to The Giver—but other than that it doesn't have much to do with the previous book.

The book is about a girl, Kira, with a twisted leg who has a talent for threading. She lives in a community in which the weak are taken to the "Field" to be taken by "Beasts." After her mother, the only person who protected her from the terrifying fate that could have been, passes away, Kira is targeted by other women in the village who want her land. She goes to trial and is allowed to stay and given a special task, but what she really wants is the color blue for it was the only color her mother could not make to dye threads with.

It's an absolutely wonderful novel and is very difficult to put down. I recommend it.