The Giver

The Giver
By Lois Lowry
Fiction/Young Adult
Released April 26, 1993
*Newbery Medal Book
Print $6.99 $6.29 Kindle http://www.amazon.com/

I think this book may have been the inspiration for the "Hunger Games" and the "Among the Hidden" series.
All of the above are novels set in the the future and deal with scary solutions for overpopulation, crime, hunger, unemployment and the environment.Maybe the idea for these books actually goes back to 1516 and Sir Thomas More's book "Utopia"? I personally find the idea of a Utopian Society scary as hell! What if in the the future we controlled the population by limiting a certain amount of children per family? Or controlling the economy and employment by requiring and bestowing a certain role or career on children at a predetermined age?
Meet Jonas, the main character in "The Giver". He lives in a white-washed, utopian world. Devoid of crime, poverty, unemployment, and even divorce. A society with no troubles or ills.....but also a society devoid of choice and freedom. He soon learns that people don't miss what they don't know.
Twelve-year old Jonas is participating in the Annual Ceremony. At this event each 12 year old in the community is presented with their "life assignment". Many of his friends get the fun careers. Caretaker, recreation, etc...Jonas gets the "Receiver" and an old man known as the "Giver".
The Giver is the keeper...of memories, history, and secrets. It's his job to pass this history along. The Giver knows the world used to be full of choices.
The heart of this book blossoms during the training sessions between Giver and Receiver. It provokes....if you had the knowledge that life could be full of choices that could bring joy and beauty but the history to know that those same choices could bring pain and ugliness...would you choose to stay with the future you've been given or risk everything for the chance to create your own destiny? Would you learn from the mistakes or continue to allow history to repeat itself?
Amazing book. Lowry writes with powerful, thought-inducing text. More importantly, she writes with the element of surprise. You turn the page, feeling safe in your expectations and go,"Whoa, I didn't see that coming!"
Some of you with young children may have heard of this book. Many teachers make it required reading. My daughters read it in school and loved it. The ending of this book brought us many hours of debate. As a mom, that kind of dialogue is priceless. And that alone is reason enough to read this book.

Read It: Yes. It makes you question. It makes you nod your head and put on your thinking face.
But: No butts.
Bonus: This is one in a trilogy. Read "Gathering Blue" for the sequel.