The Giver

The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

ISBN: 0440237688

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 2002

Age: 9-12

Genre: Science Fiction

Summary: Jonas’s world is perfect.  Everything is under control.  There is no war or fear or pain.  There are no choices.  Every person is assigned a role in the Community.  This is a world in which the old live in group homes and are “released” – to great celebration – when the time is right; the few infants who do not develop according to schedule are also “released,” but with no fanfare.  When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life.  Now it’s time for Jonas to receive the truth.  There is no turning back.  He discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy, and after learning more he decides that he cannot pay the price. 

Read A-Likes: Messenger; Gathering Blue; Number the Stars; and The Boy Who Dared.

Personal Thoughts: I have to be completely honest…this book disturbs me greatly.  Has since the very first time I read it, and that hasn’t changed after reading it several times.  After reading 1984, and other books similar in theme I realized that this book is pretty much the “youth” version of those others, and highlights the good and bad in the popular idea of a utopian society. Not a book I would suggest to just anyone, but it does serve its purpose in showing what can happen when things are taken just a bit too far, and how some people will react.