Skip to main content

Featured

Reminder Post: Creator Accountability Network

Hi everyone! I'm excited to announce that I've joined the Creator Accountability Network. I've posted about it several times recently as part of the onboarding process, and a quick version of the details about CAN will be at the end of all my posts from now on (including this one).  CAN is a nonprofit dedicated to reducing harassment and abuse through ethical education and a system of restorative accountability. I joined because I care about the safety and well being of my community members. If you feel my behavior or content has harmed someone, please report it to CAN, either via the reporting form on their website, CreatorAccountabilityNetwork.org, or via their hotline at (617-249-4255). They’ll help me make it right, and avoid repeating that mistake in the future. CAN also needs volunteers from our communities to help with their work, so if you have skills you think would be helpful, or time and a desire to help, please visit their website to find out how you ...

Messenger by Lois Lowry (The Giver Quartet, #3)

Messenger connects The Giver and Gathering Blue to show the slow creep of xenophobia in the Village that had always been a welcoming place. This is a strong entry that can stand on its own, but is much better due to what came before.

I like the way that this story incorporates the previous two books such that this story can make sense on its own, but it completes the unfinished threads of the other books so that they feel more complete. I'm very excited to see how this series concludes in "Son", but "Messenger" alone filled in a lot of what was missing from "Gathering Blue".

The dynamic between Matty and the blind man was very good. Matty is not as knowledgeable as the blind man, but the blind man clearly values their friendship, and I think Matty enjoys having someone to help. From a narrative perspective, the way that we get hints of the blind man's breadth of knowledge even when Matty doesn't have the context for his assertions was very well handled. It made them both feel like full persons even when we mostly are left with Matty's thoughts.

I'm glad that Kira didn't let Matty heal her for the journey, and that he respected her autonomy and didn't force the healing on her. The discourse about disability within these books seems to be very well handled.

Overall I liked this one and I'm looking forward to reading the conclusion in "Son".

Comments