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.