Bibliographic Citation: Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Laurel Leaf Books, 1993.
Plot Summary:
Jonas lives in a Utopian society set in the future. Jonas' family is like very other family, a mom, a dad, one daughter, and one son. In this society, sameness is the way to live. Everyone has the same things in their homes, lying is not allowed, there are ceremonies for children, no one has a birthday, books are not allowed, except for the book of rules, everyone is assigned a job, and many other things. Life seems perfect to Jonas, that is until he is assigned a special job at the age of 12.
Jonas learns that he will be the new receiver, a job that has ben specially selected for him. He will be the new receiver of memories and he must not share them with anyone. When he begins his training, Jonas get a glimpse into what the world was like before sameness, and this is when he begins to question the way things are. Jonas learns the truth about many other things, such as that his father's job is to release (kill) a baby if he is born as a twin, twins are not allowed. This is when Jonas realizes that his father has been lying to him, and he begins to wonder how many people lie about other things. The life Jonas thought was perfect, doesn't seem very perfect anymore and Jonas begins to realize that maybe a life with choices would be better.
When Jonas learns that a baby his father has been nurturing for over a year will be released the next day, Jonas decides it's time to run away with the baby, Gabriel. His escape is successful, and Jonas reaches a place where there is snow, colors, and Christmas music.
My Impressions of the Book:
I must admit that this is a great book for teens that depicts a Utopian society. When first reading this book, life seems great for Jonas and his community, but little by little, truths are revealed and we learn that life isn't as great as it was portrayed. At first it seems that the life they live is ideal and you can't help but envy the perfect, worry free life they lead. Later, I found myself upset that there were so many lies and I felt thankful to live in a world where we have so many choices. I was appaled in learning what the term "released" really meant and it was then that I realized this novel isn't about a Utopian society, but a Dystopian society. While I enjoyed reading the book, I must confess I did not like the ending. We can hope that Jonas and Gabriel lived happily ever after in the new community they found, but don't really know.
Review(s) About the Book:
Barnes & Nobles Editorial Reviews
School Library Journal
Gr 6-9-- In a complete departure from her other novels, Lowry has written an intriguing story set in a society that is uniformly run by a Committee of Elders. Twelve-year-old Jonas's confidence in his comfortable ``normal'' existence as a member of this well-ordered community is shaken when he is assigned his life's work as the Receiver. The Giver, who passes on to Jonas the burden of being the holder for the community of all memory ``back and back and back,'' teaches him the cost of living in an environment that is ``without color, pain, or past.'' The tension leading up to the Ceremony, in which children are promoted not to another grade but to another stage in their life, and the drama and responsibility of the sessions with The Giver are gripping. The final flight for survival is as riveting as it is inevitable. The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time.--Amy Kellman, The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Giver/Lois-Lowry/e/9780440237686/?itm=2&USRI=the+giver
Amazon Editorial Reviews
In the "ideal" world into which Jonas was born, everybody has sensibly agreed that well-matched married couples will raise exactly two offspring, one boy and one girl. These children's adolescent sexual impulses will be stifled with specially prescribed drugs; at age 12 they will receive an appropriate career assignment, sensibly chosen by the community's Elders. This is a world in which the old live in group homes and are "released"--to great celebration--at the proper time; the few infants who do not develop according to schedule are also "released," but with no fanfare. Lowry's development of this civilization is so deft that her readers, like the community's citizens, will be easily seduced by the chimera of this ordered, pain-free society. Until the time that Jonah begins training for his job assignment--the rigorous and prestigious position of Receiver of Memory--he, too, is a complacent model citizen. But as his near-mystical training progresses, and he is weighed down and enriched with society's collective memories of a world as stimulating as it was flawed, Jonas grows increasingly aware of the hypocrisy that rules his world. With a storyline that hints at Christian allegory and an eerie futuristic setting, this intriguing novel calls to mind John Christopher's Tripods trilogy and Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl. Lowry is once again in top form--raising many questions while answering few, and unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers. Ages 12-14.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Use in Library Setting:
I would use this book in a book club, focusing on the utopian society. This book would be a great way to teach the term utopia and teach teens about their rights in society, since Jonas' were limited.
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