The Giver by Lois Lowry was a moving story about the blessings and curses of free will. Jonas, our protagonist, whose life is changed at the celebration of age 12, lives in a seemingly perfect realty. No pain, no divorce, no crime or poverty. No unemployment or problems really. But is this stagnant society really the best life anyone could have?

The people of this community do not choose anything, ever. It is chosen for them. They don’t even know that they are missing a key thing and possibly the best thing in life – love. When Jonas is chosen to become the next Receiver, the most important position in the community, what will he do with his newfound knowledge of his world as it really is? Will he just accept it as status quo or will he try to show everyone the real truth?

I found this book appealing, as the message was completely unexpected for some reason. I’m also a sucker for happy endings. One of my favorite things about the younger age genre is that they usually contain fairly positive finales. This thought triggers the appropriateness of that fact, but for me pain/crime/cruelty is so rampant in our world, when I read I want to escape this reality. Also, there are plenty of books on the more realistic side if thats what you like. You probably wont find too many pessimistic ending books rated highly in my blog though.

The shorter length, the simple sentence structure and the lower vocabulary level help make this a quick read and possible for our young adults age group. I don’t know if a younger child could handle or maybe even grasp the real truths to the story.

I definitely feel that this piece deserved an award and at the very least to be read by all those interested in the YA genre.

Kate

The Giver by Lois Lowry
John Newbery Medal Winner
(c) 1993, Houghton Mifflin Co
Reading Level: Young Adult
ISBN: 0385732554
180 pages