dark emotional and political issues bravely dealt with for children

books:


	• The Giver Lois Lowry Demco Media, 1994 - 180 pages average customer review:based on 3078 reviews
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highly recommended

A Must Read For Teachers!

This book is about a boy, named Jonas who lives in what seems to be like a special community that is protected from everything. At first, it is a bit difficult to understand the rules of the community because they are not displayed early on for the reader. However, they are learned throughout the entire book. The rules of the family consist of: you cannot lie, each family must eat at the same time, they must tell about their dreams and fellings, and there are no secrets. Every child in the community experiences the same thing, and even receive the same gift for their birthdays. It is not until age nine that they can even ride a bicycle. However, age 12 is the most important brithday. This is when the children are assigned their job or duty within the community. The protagonist, Jonas, is given the most important job of the Receiver. He is allowed to lie, have secrets, and may not tell anyone what occurs at his job. The Giver is Jonas' trainer for his job, and he receives many things from the Giver. He is told he will learn about rain, snow, fire, the sun, and another world. The first memory he recieves is of snow, where he is sledding. The next memory is pain, while he is sledding he goes over ice, falls off his sled, and hurts his leg. At this point in the story it is explained that every time someone gets hurt, they receive a pill, and they don't receive pain. Jonas is the only one in the community who can feel pain.
At the beginning of the book Jonas' father (who is the Nurturer), brings home a baby named Gabriel. Jonas realizes that him Gabriel are the only two in the community with Hazel eyes. Everyone else has dark eyes. Later, Jonas also notices that the Giver also has Hazel eyes. He puts all of this information together, and knows that Gabriel will be the next Receiver. One night, when Gabriel is crying Jonas accidentally gives him a memory. Throughout the book Jonas is faced with hardships. He is traumatized when he realizes that his father actually kills babies that don't belong in the community. THis transformation, and growth in his character makes him begin to think about leaving. His last memory that is given to him is the memor of the outside world. Jonas decides to try and find the place, and leaves one night with Gabriel in search of it. In the end, Jonas and Gabriel die of starvation and freezing temperatures.
All of the aspects of this book are very dramatic and shocking for readers. It is a fantasy story, but could also be classified as a science fiction novel. Due to the content of the book, and the depth at which it can be analyzed it would be more appropriate for Juniour High or High School students. Children in this age range will be more able to think about the book and its true meaning about social norms. Classroom debates about having a sheltered community could be held with these students. The novel presents these topics in a very shattering way which draws in readers, and sparks motivation. However, a concern would be the emotional readiness of the reader to tackle a book that speaks out against things that are different from our society. One example is that, in the novel children are not nurtured by their parents while they are infants. They are nurtured by the Nurturers in the community, and then assigned to a family. This is a concept that may be too abstract for a younger audience. This book could be tied into any type of skill development while teaching reading. These skills included questioning, prediction, and of course the idea of forming opinions as readers. I na Social Studies class when introducing classroom debates, this story could be shared to illustrate a different culure, and teams could be formed to support various reader opinions on some of the themes in the book. It is a high quality book, that while it uses simple language it messages are brought with very descriptive words that help readers picture what is going on throughout the story.

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dark emotional and political issues bravely dealt with for children

The Giver by Lois Lowry a children's SF for 8-12 year olds written in 1993 is part of a loose set trilogy set in the same imagined world but not necessarily with the same characters. It deals with a world where your life is one of conformity and happiness. The short novel honestly faces why a society such as this would arise with its benefits and essential failure explored. The core of that failure is that...grief is the price you pay for love. Without sadness, can love and laughter really exist?

We discover a community of unlimited happiness and good manners set in a green and pleasant paradise of high but largely hidden technology. In this world, only 50 children per community are born from genetically approved placements in birth mothers. Regulations define your clothes, toys and your role in society from your first year. From eight you have to volunteer for a range of community duties so that your life long occupation from twelve can start. We join Jonas as the ceremony for 12's is near for the allotment of his calling. Much to his and the communities shock he is not allotted a job but is selected to be the Receiver. In learning what this is, he discovers the hidden pain and dark side of unlimited happiness. This sets off a chain of events as Jonas discovers what being released really means. He faces what growing up means, and consequences whose meaning you have to decide.

The book has over 3000 ratings on Amazon.com alone so we are talking popular and critical success (it won the Newbury Medal- the USA children's literature award). Even so, it is banned in several USA State's School and Library systems because of the dark emotional issues dealt with. If you or your children have not read it then you have missed a classic. But if you have read it then you know why it's enjoyable and highly recommended!

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Utterly amazing

This is, quite possibly, one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It's a world that could be completely real someday, which alone is frightening enough. I found it almost impossible to put this book down and would have loved it to be even longer. But it's tight and emotional and I can't wait to read anything Lois Lowry has written.

still one of my favorites, even today..

I read this book in grade school back in the 90's, and I still love it today. It's one of my all-time favorites..everything about it. It really makes you think..and just appreciate people for their differences. Our flaws are what bring color to the world. I didn't find one bit of it boring or as some said "disturbing". I don't see why a 9 or 10 year old kid wouldn't be able to read it. It's not like a horror novel or something.

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The Giver - An interesting and thought-provoking read

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
Number of pages: 192
Level: 6th-8th grade reading level
Genre: Science Fiction
Synopsis of Plot: Jonas is a young boy, turning twelve at the beginning of the story. He has grown up in a fictional community where there is no crime, violence, poverty, or "memories" of the past. He has only know this eutopia, where there is only happiness, feelings are constantly shared, and everything is very well organized and planned out. There are very strict rules that guide daily life in the community. Every member of the community follows the same life plan, where no one chooses a husband or wife. Rather, couples are matched up, children are chosen to go to certain homes after being born by "birth mothers," and each home is only allowed two children for population control. There are no choices to be made, but Jonas soon finds out that he will be faced with one as he turns twelve, a very important age in the community. At age twelve, every child is given a job that they will hold for the rest of their lives. Jonas receives the most important job in the community: Receiver of Memories. He is given memories and knowledge of the world as we know it now, by an Elder in the community called "The Giver." Jonas learns of pain, of war, of weather, freedom, animals, color, family, and all of the things he has grown up not knowing. He realizes that choices can be made, and that life doesn't have to follow this dull, empty-of-joy pattern.
Negative Aspects: The only negative aspects I have seen after reading this book many times, is that there are some dark sides to the book that some children may not be able to understand. For example, euthanizing and infant may be difficult for some children to understand, and also the scene where war-fare is described. The only other negative aspect that I could see, is that though the book is fictional, there are many aspects of the book that go unexplained. The community lives in this "ideal," world, but no one ever explains how they got to where they are, with no memories, or color, or what happened to the rest of the world before "sameness."
My Rating: I give The Giver 4 stars personally. I have read the book numerous times, as well as having read it to my class. The book is a quick read, and never felt boring. It really gave students insight to what the world would be like without family, choices, pain, or joy. It was interesting, and brought up a lot of great discussions in class. It presented many ideas that I had never thought of before. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars, is the same reason I stated before. The book is fictional, but still needs to provide some type of explanation of how the community that Jonas grew up in, came to be. This would help readers to fully understand the history behind the book, and understand the choices that the people in the community had made.

Overall, I would recommend this book for most middle-school students who are able to read at this level. It's an interesting book that really challenges the thought of what a community is, individual thinking, and how rules can affect everyday life

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