Recommended for ages 12 and older
Every now and then, a book comes along that makes you question what you consider to be normal in life. What if everything you considered normal - food, family, work, play - were all completely different, yet oddly familiar? Your imagination may start to work after reading the children's book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry.
Set in the future, the book takes place in a world where everything is perfect. There is no pain, no fear, and no war. There are no difficult choices to be made. Everything is decided for you. You are given clothes, assigned to a family unit, and follow rituals for telling of feelings and dreams.
When you are a One, you receive your name at the Naming Ceremony. Then your family unit can receive you. When you are a Nine, you receive a bicycle at the Ceremony.
Jonas is anxiously awaiting the Ceremony this year, when he will be a Twelve. At the Ceremony of Twelves, all of them will receive their assignments. The Committee of Elders has observed them over the past several years, determining what their strengths are.
What will they decide to assign to Jonas? He wonders as he waits for the fateful day.
He is assigned the most honored place in the community. He will receive the memories from the Giver. These are all the memories that have been taken so that the rest of the Community will not have to feel them. These are memories of joy, of the feeling of sunshine, of hunger, of agony, and of colors and cold.
Jonas is unsure he is suited for the job. He wonders why he was given that assignment, and begins to think it is unfair to have to shoulder the memories for everyone. But after he discovers the truth about the Release of a Newchild, he knows he cannot bear it any more. He and the Giver make plans that will change both of their lives forever.
This remarkable and thought-provoking novel by Lois Lowry won her a John Newberry Medal. It is awarded every year for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
The world she has created in the book is one that is familiar enough to be believed, yet foreign enough to be discomforting. Kids will be drawn in by the unusual nature of Jonas's world, and their hearts will race as he sets out on his adventure. If you are feeling adventurous and bored, step into another world in this provocative children's book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry.
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