The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Publishing:  Laurel Leaf

Number of Pages: Paperback—192 pages

Genre:  Science Fiction

Reading Level:  Young Adult

Summary: This book is about a boy named Jonas who lives in a very unusual society.  In his society people are assigned jobs according to an evaluation of their skill.  They are matched up as husbands and wives based on personality, and only one boy and one girl child per family is allowed.  Children are born to women that are designated “birthmothers” and then families have to apply for children.  Once the children become adults the family then does not exist—the new adults start their jobs and the parents go to a communal housing facility.  The community takes pills, which suppress emotions—mainly sexuality/love emotions.  All of the land around the Community is for agriculture and transportation, and there is also a salmon hatchery in the town (this is the only animals that are in existence for them).  We also learn that genetic engineering has been used to manipulate people so that they are colorblind—this is part of the people being the same.  There are few exceptions to this though—like Jonas, Gabriel, and the Giver.  A committee of Elders runs the community and they are the ones that assign everything.  Everyone that is the same age has the same birthday.  At every age there is some sort of ceremony.  We find out that if a person violates any on the rules three rimes then they are punished by “release.”  The boy Jonas lives in a regular family unit with his mother as a judge, his father as a nurturer, and his little sister named Lilly.  Right before Jonas attends his last ceremony (the ceremony of twelve) he has to tell his family about a dream that he had.  It’s a dream where he wants his friend Fiona to take off her clothes—his mother tells him that he needs to take some pills to suppress his “stirrings” (sexual desires).  When Jonas goes to the ceremony of twelve, he is supposed to be called up as number 19 but they skip him.  Jonas is called last and it is learned that he is to be Receiver of Memories.  He is picked for this job because of his ability to see color and hear music.  Jonas starts his training with the Giver who was the last Receiver of Memory.  He receives memories of many things like loss, violence, joy, family, etc.  Jonas wants to get these feelings to all the community and he talks of this with the Giver.  Jonas’s family has a baby named Gabriel stay with them because he is unable to sleep through the night.  Jonas finds that he can give his memories to Gabriel and he does this to calm him.  After a while Gabriel still can’t sleep through the night so they plan on “releasing” him (killing him).  But instead Jonas runs away with him.  Soon the food runs out and they grow cold and hungry.  They begin to lose hope but then they remember sunshine and this takes them to a snow-covered hill and they find a sled and then ride down on the sled where they seem to hear music coming from some houses.  This is where it ends—although there is a second book.

My Reaction to the Book:  I am very torn on this book.  This is the third time I’ve read it.  I read it in 5^th grade and in 8^th grade.  I remember being a little confused when I read it in fifth grade, and then I understood more in 8^th grade.  I remember liking it but not loving it.  This third time that I’ve read it I can’t decide if I love it yet.  I do think that it is a very interesting book but at the same time I think it is a little weird at times.

Potential Problems:  There is talk of a dream where Jonas wants a girl to take her clothes off so he could bathe her.  Also talk of a baby being killed because he was a twin.

Recommendations:  I don’t think I would recommend this book to anyone, but I also probably wouldn’t stop anyone from reading it.