Trace Kira’s development through the novel. Why is she the kind of person who could change the course of history? How and why is art an essential part of this?

Matt is the focus of the third novel in The Giver quartet, Messenger. What kind of “messages” does he carry in Gathering Blue? In other words, what do we learn from his character—including his friendship with Kira, his bond with his dog, and his willingness to travel so far from home to find the blue that Kira needs?

Comparatively analyze Katrina and Vandara, focusing specifically on how each approaches motherhood. How are each woman’s choices a response to the brutality of the society in which she lives? Which of them exercises more power in the face of that brutality?