Is this what our future will be like?

Lots to think about both during and after the reading of Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.  Kira is a young girl with a deformed leg.  As the book opens, she has become an orphan and fears she will be cast out of her village.  However, the Council of Guardians sees that she has a very special talent for embroidery, and they decide that Kira's new job will be to care for the robe of the Singer, who wears it once a year during the village's Gathering.  While living at the Council's Edifice, Kira becomes friends with Thomas, an orphan with an amazing woodcarving talent who works on the Singer's staff.  Kira's new life at first seems ideal - a wonderful place to stay, plentiful food, and meaningful work.  But bit by bit (and I loved this about the book), I got an uneasy feeling that all was not well.  Whose voice does Thomas hear crying at night?  Do the "beasts" that supposedly killed Kira's father really exist?  What is in store for Kira's future?  I usually like stories that have everything wrapped up neat and tidy by the end, but I make an exception for this book, which would be fantastic for a book club to discuss.