The Giver by Lois Lowry

Lowry, L.  (1993).  The Giver.  New York:  Dell Laurel-Leaf.  179 pages.  $6.99

Jonas has just become a 12 and been given his new role in his community.  He is now the new Receiver of Memory.  Everyone is impressed that he has such an honor, but will he be ready for all the responsibility that accompanies this role?

Jonas is happy with his world.  Everything is in order and under control, everyone has everthing they need, and he doesn't have to worry about making choices.  But things change when he is assigned his new role as the new Receiver of Memory in his community.  He will be trained by the Giver, who is the only one who has any memories of the true pain and pleasure of life.  When Jonas begins his training with the Giver, he starts to feel comfortable with his new role, but as his training continues, he learns things that make him question his world and the way things are done.  Jonas knows that he should do something, and he thinks long and hard about what he should do.  Going against the rules and regulations of the community, Jonas decides to take Gabe, a baby that his family was trying to nurture so that he wouldn't be released from the community, and runs away to find Elsewhere, where he hopes to find a better life for himself and for Gabe.

This was my second attempt at reading this book, and I'm very glad I gave it a second chance.  I enjoyed it very much.  I thought it was kind of nice the way everyone had all their needs and wants taken care of and they knew exactly what job they had to do to contribute to their community, but then as I continued reading, it didn't seem like such a good idea.  People need to be able to make choices and figure things out for themselves.  I think this book would be interesting for tweens, particularly middle schoolers, because they are at an age where they're trying to get more freedom at an age where they're still very young and need guidance.  It would be interesting to see and hear their reactions to what happens in the book when people are not really given the freedom to think or speak for themselves.  I think they would have a lot to say to that. 

When I first started this book, I thought the title referred to Jonas, but it actually refers to the man that Jonas is training with because he is giving Jonas all the memories and knowledge, so Jonas will soon be aware of what others are not, and  he alone will hold and be in charge of these memories and knowledge.  It is a big responsibility to have, and soon Jonas becomes aware of how much he will be in charge of, and it is overwhelming to him.

The Giver won the John Newbery Medal.  It is also a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, and ALA Best Book for Young Adults and Notable Book for Children.  It is also a winner of the Regina Medal and a Booklist Editors' Choice as well as a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.

Other books by Lois Lowry include Number the Stars, Gathering Blue, and A Summer to Die.  Visit http://www.loislowry.com/ for more information about Lois Lowry and more titles of her books.

These books are part of The Giver trilogy.

Watch and listen to Lois Lowry give an interview about The Giver and how she became a writer.  She also talks about how she thinks of characters for her books at http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/lowry.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, L. H.  (1999).  Speak.  New York:  The Penguin Group.  198 pages.  $10

Something happened at the end-of-summer party that Melinda and Rachel attended before their freshman year of high school.  What happened at this party that made Melinda call the police?

Melinda Sordino and her best friend Rachel are excited about going the the end-of-summer party.  Melinda can't believe it when Andy Evans show interest in her.  They go to the backyard to talk and get to know each other a little better, but then Andy takes things further than Melinda is comfortable with, and he won't stop, but Melinda can't speak.  Melinda manages to get away and calls to police, and they break up the party.  When school starts, everyone seems to know that Melinda called the police and ruined a great party, so she becomes the school outcast, being shunned even by Rachel.  Melinda chooses not to speak about what really happened at the party, but when she runs into Rachel, she yearns to grab her and tell her what really happened at the party and to stop treating her so poorly.  Now with no one as her friend, she is left with Heather, a new student from Ohio, as her only friend, and when she decides that Melinda is too much of an introvert to be friends with, Melinda decides to make an unused janitor's closet her safe haven.  Melinda also sees her art teacher's class as a safe place and often goes there to work on her art project.  Nicole, a former friend, is also in that class, and she slowly starts to warm up to her again.  One day, Andy is in there, and Melinda feels weird and nervous around him.  One day, while washing off paint from her shirt, Melinda writes Andy Evans' name on the wall of the bathroom stall as someone to stay away from.  Later, Nicole shows her that other girls have written similar things about Andy.  When Andy finds out, he confronts and attacks Melinda.  Melinda fights back and other students run to see what is happening, discovering the truth about Andy and helping Melinda face what happened to her and overcome it.

I enjoyed reading this book.  It dealt with a difficult topic.  It's told from Melinda's point of view, sort of on a daily account of what happens during her freshman year in high school, so readers get bits and pieces of the puzzle to figure out what happens, and at the end, it's all put together.  I think it would be a good book for high schoolers to read and for them (girls) to know that it's OK to talk about what is bothering them, especially if it is something unlawful.  It was difficult to read about how tough a time Melinda was having and how she wouldn't (couldn't?) talk to anyone about what happened to her.  I think students would be able to understand how important it is for them to have friends and fit in with a group of people so that they feel comfortable in school.

I thought it was interesting that Speak is the title of this book.  I think it is an appropriate title because it seems that Melinda knows that she needs to speak to someone about what happened to her at the party, but she cannot bring herself to talk about it.  It is too difficult to bring it up because of how people might react to what she has to say, so instead she just keeps it all to herself.  It isn't until she realizes that other girls have had similar experiences with Andy that she feels more comfortable talking about what happened to her.
Speak is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and a finalist for the National Book Award, the Edgar Allen Poe Award, and for The Los Angeles Times Book Prize.  It also won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award and was a New York Times and Publishers Weekly Best Seller and Best Book of the Year.  In addition it was an ALA top Ten Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA Quick Pick.  It was a Booklist Top Ten First Novel of 1999 and a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book.  In addition, it was a School LIbrary Journal Best Book of the Year and a Horn Book Fanfare Title.

Watch and listen to Laurie Halse Anderson speak about her book Speak at http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780142414736,00.html?Speak_Laurie_Halse_Anderson

Other books by Laurie Halse Anderson include Fever 1793, Catalyst, and Prom.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Ryan, P. M.  (2000).  Esperanza rising.  New York:  Scholastic.  262 pages.

Esperanza is used to living a charmed life in Rancho de las Rosas in Aguascalientes, Mexico, but tragedy forces her and her mother into a life she never expected to live.  Will she be able rise above it?

Esperanza always expected to live a comfortable life in Mexico with Mama, Papa, and Abuelita on her family's ranch in Mexico.  She's used to having beautiful dresses and servants to help her.  A tragedy involving Papa changes her life completely.  Now she and Mama are forced to leave their home and head for California, without Abuelita, to become farm workers with their former servants.  Esperanza is not used to the new living conditions, and she feels very inadequate, but Mama tells her that this is their new life now, and they must get used to it and make the best of it if they are to stay together and make it as a family.  Then Mama gets sick, and Esperanza realizes that she has to accept her new life and do what she can to help.  Esperanza learns to pitch in as a member of an extended family, and she is able to prove to herself (and her family) that she is strong and can take on whatever challenges she has to face.

I really liked this book, particularly because it reminded my of my grandpa's struggle to make a better life for his family (and for himself) by working as a migrant worker.  I liked seeing Esperanza change throughout the book.  Even though she was respectful to her elders, she kind of seemed like a spoiled brat who had it all.  I also saw this in her when she, her mom, and their former servants were traveling together, and a poor peasant girl saw that she had a beautiful porcelain doll that her father had given her for her birthday, and she acted as though the little girl was going to ruin her doll.  However, I liked how she accepted her new status when her mother got sick, and she readily went to work to help earn and save money for her family.  She learned that things do not always go as planned or as how people think they are supposed to go, and she had to do her part to help out. 

The title, Esperanza Rising, fits because Esperanza learns to rise above her situation and does what she could to be there for her family.  I think this would work for tweens and teens because they tend to be a little self-centered at times.  I think they would be able to relate to and empathize with Esperanza.  They might learn that even though some things might come easily for them, it may not always be that way, so they should learn to be helpful and do things for themselves.

Esperanza Rising won Pura Belpre Award.  It is also a winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Willa Cather Award, and made the ALA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.  It was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was on the New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.  In addition, it was also on the Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year in 2000.  Other books by the author include Riding Freedom and Becoming Naomi Leon.

This is a photo of Pam Munoz Ryan, the author.