Book: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Age Recommendation: 12 and up
Format: hardcover, softcover, and Kindle (240 pages)
Book Summary:
Amazon.com Review
In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community’s Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 NewberryMedal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.
MY THOUGHTS
I have a soft spot for banned books; must be the rebel bookworm in me. The Giver has been banned from middle schools across the country due to suicide, euthanasia, sex, and violence. Basically all the themes you want to to keep away from your middle school student. However, to focus on those aspects would be to miss out on this book. The book examines a utopia that you and the main character find to be a dystopia. The book examines the cost of living in a society where fair supersedes the concept of freedom. A world without pain, war, and illness turns out to also be a world devoid of personal choices. As young Jonas learns the truth about his world he decides it is unfair and comes up with a plan to break free.