Gathering Blue & Messenger by Lois Lowry

I finished reading Lois Lowry's companion books to The Giver.  With the impending release of Hunger Games and it's take on young people living in a dystopian society, this trilogy should be promoted by Random House/Delacorte Press.  The "perfect" world invented by bureaucrats in The Giver reveals the dehumanizing effect of  sameness vs. complexity.
          In Gathering Blue the gifts and talents of a few are captured and controlled to benefit the leaders' ability to maintain control of an impoverished population.  The "cost" of being singled-out as a star is high and might lead to a conversation about what really happens to contestants (especially winners) on shows like "American Idol".
          Messenger explores the impact on a small village when residents are able to trade their humanity for "stuff"  (not giant flat-screen TV's, or glamorous cars - but it isn't a stretch to make that comparison). There is also a bit about nature turning against the village.
          Recommending all three books.