Messenger is a 2004 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by children's author Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s...

. It forms the third installment of the loose trilogy begun by her 1993 novel The Giver

The Giver

The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life...

, which won the 1994 Newbery Medal

Newbery Medal

The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...

. This novel is speculated to take place in the year 2073, about eight years after the events of The Giver, and about six years after the events of Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue is a 2000 children's, social science fiction, dystopian novel by noted children's author Lois Lowry. The book is a companion novel to The Giver , and is followed by Messenger in The Giver trilogy. It is set in the same future time period and it treats some of the same themes...

. Characters from the two earlier books reappear in Messenger, linking the novels more strongly.