The Giver by Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Release date: April 26, 1993
Pages: 179

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. 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 is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

The Giver is a dystopian novel about a boy named Jonas who lives in a perfect society.  There is no crime, no racism, no poverty, no disease.  In faction, most members of the society don't even know what those things are.  They lives of everyone are mapped out from the start.  Everything is chosen for you and society members have no chance to make any decision for themselves.  Jonas would be perfectly content to live his life like this is he hadn't been chosen as the receiver of memories.

As receiver of memories, Jonas is given the knowledge of what life was like in the past.  He learns of war, poverty, hunger, and sickness but also joy, holidays, snow, and love.  With this new knowledge he must look closer at their society and see if there is something he can do to change things.

The Giver is often read by children in middle school but it can be read by much older readers.  Reading it as an adult allowed me to comprehend many things that I would not have understood as a younger reader.

My full review!

Themes:

• importance of memory
• choice
• coming of age
• individuality
• love

Extra content:

Luna Station Quarterly's review: "The plot didn’t feel fully developed enough for me and I was still left with questions such as how did the world become this way?"

Thinking Out Loud's review: "This is a story that rallies against the sacrifice of freedom for the sake of sameness and peaceful control."