Messenger (novel)
Messenger is a 2004 young adult fiction by author Lois Lowry. It forms the third installment of "The Giver Quartet", which was begun by her 1993 Newbery Medal-winning novel "The Giver". "Messenger" takes place about eight years after the events of "The Giver" and about six years after the events of "Gathering Blue". Characters from both of the previous books reappear in "Messenger" and give the novels a stronger continuity. Set in an isolated community, known simply as Village, "Messenger" focuses upon a boy, Matty, who serves as message-bearer through the ominous and lethal Forest that  surrounds the community. Plot. Matty, who was introduced in "Gathering Blue" as "Matt", now lives with Seer, who was originally named Christopher and is a blind man rescued by the people of the Village years earlier. Outside the safe boundaries of Village is the Forest, an unwelcoming realm that most of the Villagers fear because of its powerful harm. Despite the lack of dangerous beasts, The Forest is animated. People who trade at a gathering, Trade Mart, change from being compassionate and generous to angry and impatient. The Villagers change temperament and decide to close their borders and stop permitting  the displaced and the unwanted of other communities to enter. Seer, in the wake of the sudden change, decides to send Matty to travel through the Forest to retrieve his daughter, Kira, who lives in a town several days away. The gift is a special ability that Matty possesses but hardly understands. It is a power of healing that causes wholeness from the inside out. Matty puts his hands to the ground and manages to restore the integrity of The Forest and people alike at the expense of his own life from the thickening forest. The Leader (Jonas) names Matty  as "the Healer." At the end of the novel, Matty's soul drifts deep into the earth, which saves the villagers and Forest. The chaos turns to peace, as Matty's powers become a part of the perishing earth. Reception. This book was nominated in the 2008 Young Hoosier Book Award.