Messenger- Lois Lowry- JANUARY

Significance- I chose this book because I really enjoyed the other two books in Lois Lowry’s series, so I thought I would like this one too. It was a truly inspiring story, with Matty’s dedication to his work, and his family. He was so committed to everything he did, and he was so intelligent, that he made me want to follow in his footsteps. In this book, the main character Matty lives in a place called Village with a man named Seer. Village has always been a place where people aren’t selfish, and kindness that always extended a helping hand to the newcomers who traveled to Village. But something terrible is happening to Village, people have given away their kindness, and have closed Village to outsiders. Now he must travel through Forest, which is planning to destroy Matty, to find Seer’s daughter Kira, so that she can join her father in Village. Secretly, Matty has a gift of healing, and in the end he heals everyone and dies, but gets rid of the selfishness. This book teaches children about sacrifices they have to make.

Perspective- This book was written in the perspective of Matty. I think if this book was written in a different person’s point of view, the story wouldn’t have been as strong. If it was in Seer’s perspective, everything would be so different, because Seer is blind. If Seer was the narrator, I’d bet most things would be about what he feels, tastes, touches, and smells, because those are the things that you notice the most, not looking around and seeing the world. I think if this book was written from Seer’s perspective, then the story would mostly be about Kira and Matty; his two children, who are the most important things in his life.

Evidence- Matty is a very unselfish person. I know this, because he sacrifices his life, just so that people will be healed. He wants everyone to be healed, and better, and live in an unselfish world. His own life doesn’t really matter to him, because he is so unselfish that he wants the world to be better. He also doesn’t want Village to close to outsiders, and only selfish people want Village to close, because they want everything for themselves. Matty wants everyone to find a good home, and so therefore, he is not selfish.

Connection- This book has many feelings that relate to my life. I know what it feels like to want everything to be ok, for everyone to stop fighting and embrace what they have. I think one of the reasons I like this book so much, is because I can relate it to my own life. This is a very realistic book, besides the parts where they have powers, and so all the emotions are the same. I have felt most of the emotions he has, like relocation. Matty had to move away, to a new place, where he didn’t feel safe in at first, but quickly adjusted, so then he liked it. It feels like me when I was going from school to school, at first I felt awkward, and then I adjusted to it, and I felt very calm.

Supposition- How would the world be different if we had Trades like in Village? I think the world would be a very cruel place of very attractive people with a lot of money. Because they would all trade away their niceness for material things that “matter” to them. If we had Trades, I don’t know what we would do. I know I would never Trade. But Trading is such a bad thing I would never do it. I think I a lot of people would do Trades, and then the world would suck. Too many selfish people.