The Giver (Worlds of Lois Lowry, Book 1) (original 1993; edition 2006)

Summary: 12 year old Jonas lives in a seemingly perfect society. However, once he is given his Life Assignment, his life changes forever, as he will be given the life experiences of emotions, feelings, and memories of every citizen

Genre: Fiction

Critique: This is a good example of fiction because the setting and characters are not unrealistic, but the plot line is fictional

Media: There are no illustrations

A really terrific read. This book is ostensibly for the Young Adult market, but I was thoroughly engaged. It reminded me of Ursula LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas." It is a dystopian children's novel, which you wouldn't think of as being a big hit, would you? But it is. Slowly, the dark side of the "Sameness" clock under which the community lives is revealed, and it's quite chilling. It made me think, and question. It kept me guessing, and desperately wanting to know what happens next. I look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy. Well done. ( )

The Giver is a well written sci-fi story set in a structured community in the future, where things are a lot more controlled than today. It has some interesting premises and is worth a read. ( )

The Giver is an award winning book. I enjoyed readying this book for my first time and felt that story portrays a very important theme that life isn't perfect. I learned alot from this book and believe it is a good book for children to read.

I loved it! I loved watching it come alive. Was this a movie? I think I've seen something similar. Anyway, it was great. I'm making my son read it next! ( )

This was my earliest experience with any kind of dystopian fiction. Jonas's world is practically perfect. Everyone is assigned their job to do, and they do it without complaint. When Jonas is tapped to study under the all knowing Giver, he begins to realize that perhaps his world is not all its cracked up to be. As a young reader, this novel not only entertained, but made me question certain aspects of my own world. This read is highly recommended. ( )

http://thenovelworld.com/2011/12/23/the-giver-lois-lowry-review/ ( )

I was pleasantly surprised when I read this and Ender's Game back to back (see previous review). I have not read many of these types of book, and normally would not have read 2 so close together. But because I did, I noticed a lot of similarities. I mean, the obvious. It's dystopian. It's more or less timeless. They live in a so-called 'perfect' world, that are now being threatened, and they must protect them. The future in both hinges on a child. Both are trilogies. This book was a powerful one, even for an adult. I like the way the author allowed the reader to feel what Jonas is going through along with him. The reader got a taste of the isolation and loneliness along with him. I like the way that the author slowly opened his eyes, but he took action, as opposed to passively sitting by, as people had done for generations. It was interesting to me to see how every detail is so controlled in the society to be made 'the same'. The author put a lot of work into the details, and it's these little bits that make it interesting. It was much less dark then Ender's Game. I look forward to reading the sequel. ( )

from notecard for class in 2004:

Rating: 3 (out of a 3 star system?)

Summary: A tale of a boy in a strange community where they have made sameness (safety and comfort at the cost of beauty, diversity, and truth). Ambiguous ending - bothered me to some extent.

RL: 5.7; IL: UG

this is the 1990s HOLDEN CAULFIELD tale. A 12-year-ol boy is picked by the village GIVER to stujdy under him and become the nex GIVER. found that this book was known to just about everyone except me. rom its publishing in 199o's, it became a standard iin re3medial educatipon. with a majority of middle schools teaching it. believe it is even now a CLASSIC in the sense of BRAVE NEW WORLD, 1984, or the aforementioned CATHER IN THE RYE. ( )

I think this book was very good and it expressed a good moral very clearly. The people who created the colony thought that taking away pain, colors, and love would make it so people couldn't be sad. Instead, they created a place where one person had the power and no one else had any joy. Don't try and change things that already work good. ( )

The Giver introduces a society where everyone is given a job. They don’t get to choose what it’s going to be. Jonas is about to receive his job at the Ceremony. However, when his name is skipped over when the rest of the Twelve’s are being called, he gets worried. Yet when at the end of the ceremony he is given the title “Receiver of Memory”, he has been bestowed the greatest honor of their society. During his sessions with the Giver of Memory, Jonas discovers the secrets that the society decided to block out—war, hunger, pain, love, happiness, snow, even colors. As he discovers the world outside of the society he has been raised, he realizes that there are certain things that people must feel in order to be human. This realization leads him to the toughest decision of his life. As the reader follows along with Jonas as he receives memories, they begin to discover that even the most horrific aspects of humanity play a role, and are drawn to understanding the deepest levels of human life.

The Giver is one of my all time favorite novels. It has all my favorite things; dystopian life, civil disobedience and young adults trying to deal with the cruelties in the world. It touches on very controversial ideas like disowning those who are different and the idea of conformity. We see Jonah growing as he learns about the horrible pieces of his community and tries to find a way to deal with them. ( )

Love this book. Most people seem to read this when they're really young, I missed that part and now just reading it for the first time in my mid twenties. I could see this as a book that you could read over and over again and just find different little things to ponder over. It's such a simple book but so many complicated subjects on life and society all wrapped into a short little book. The begging was so fun to read, everything was so happy and easy.

Since I'm reading it now for the first time, having kids of my own. The baby part really made me sad and I worried for the baby. I feel like if I had read it some other time that wouldn't have been so much of my focus. I want to read this to my kids when they're a little older and understand and keep rereading it to them. After finishing I'd like to ask them what they thought of it and which part they liked best and see how it chances as they get older. ( )

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I liked it so much I read the next book in the series, Gathering Blue. It takes a lot for me to really get into a book so that was a really big deal for me. The book was so interesting because it is about a different type of society which seems so far out from what we live in today. The society had converted to "Sameness" and there was no longer pain and strife in their lives. The memories of the society landed on the shoulders of the Giver and Jonas, a twelve year old boy is named the "Receiver of Memory". Jonas meets the Giver and discovers the power of knowledge. The people in his society are happy because they know of nothing else but if they were to know that there was a world beyond the one they live in it could create serious chaos. He is faced with the dilemma of staying with his family in the dull colorless world they live in, or running away to a fuller life.
This book should probably be used in a middle school or early high school classroom. That is around the time I read it and it was extremely intriguing. There can still be personal connections made with this book through certain dilemmas faced in life on whether or not to go with the way society says to do things or to set your own pace and follow your own path. Also, application can be made through looking through the eyes of Jonas as someone who receives something someone older and wiser hands down to him. The children may ask themselves who do they have that has input in their lives, and how do they choose to store information and memories? ( )

Teaches kids to stand up for what they believe in.

Why couldn't I have read this when I was younger? Okay, I'm still young, but it would have been interesting to see what I have thought about this book when I was a wee little kid as opposed to reading it and understanding the larger themes as an adult. When I read this book, I imagined a colorless world where people spoke in monotonous voices and thought of how boring that would have been, and yet, everyone without feelings seem to be content with their lives. But how can they be when they can't experience positive or negative feelings? I used to think that without negative emotions, one cannot appreciate positive emotions, but in this dystopian world, no one besides the Giver and the Receiver experiences or understands either emotions because they are merely not allowed to. I still can't comprehend how each Receiver, given that they are 12 years old when they take the task, has the ability to carry the burden of all of the past memories and emotions without going crazy, especially since each of them had been growing up in a monotonous society for twelve years. One would think it would be fairly common for each new chosen Receiver to ask for a "Release" when, from my understanding, that has only happened once before. There were just a few strange particulars like that that made me question how likely a society like this could exist, but all and all, this was a quick, entertaining read that I appreciate because I didn't merely just read the book and throw it out, but it gave me something to think about. Any book that can do that is worth reading. ( )

Available in Kindle, Audio cd, paperback and hard cover.

Standard 2: Exploring and Responding to Literature
Overarching Idea: Students read and respond to classical and contemporary texts from many cultures and literary periods.
Guiding Question: How does literature enrich our lives?
Component Statements:
2.1 Students recognize how literary devices and conventions engage the reader.
2.2 Students explore multiple responses to literature.
2.3 Students recognize and appreciate that contemporary and classical literature has shaped human thought.
2.4 Students recognize that readers and authors are influenced by individual, social, cultural and historical contexts. ( )

Newbery Award Winner The Giver is a dystopian novel that unfolds gradually, first introducing 12 year-old Jonas’s seemingly benign community and then drawing the reader in more deeply alongside Jonas as he becomes aware of the darker side of his world. In Jonas’s structured community, rules shape every aspect of a person’s life from birth onward, conformity is paramount, and everything from one’s job to one’s mate is determined by a committee. When Jonas is assigned to the highly respected position of Receiver of Memory, he learns that he alone will be the repository of the community’s memories from a time before their current lifestyle. As the Giver, an elder, transmits those memories to Jonas over the course of a year, Jonas starts to see everything that his community has given up in order to achieve the predictability and peace that comes with Sameness. The book builds to an unexpectedly chilling climax, and its ending is left open to significant interpretation (although two later books by Lowry do answer some lingering questions from her open-ended conclusion). Readers who’ve enjoyed recent dystopian fiction—particularly Ally Condie’s Matched series—will be interested in this as a major influence on the genre. Highly recommended, ages 12+. ( )

Jonah, who is 12 years old lives in a society built on trying to achieve a perfect world. He is assigned to be the receiver of memories because he is perceived to be different (eye-color, ability to see color). When Jonah receives the memories by the Giver(his teacher) he soon realizes that emotions, animals, violence etc. are too valuable to be eliminated and is the essence of living. This book makes me think of how rulers often think of their own interests to dominate the people in their society. A perfect society is impossible and taking away what makes us human defeats the purpose.

One of my favourite dystopian novels! Imagine a world with no war, no crime, no sickness, no worries! Sounds great, right?! Only, in this same world, everything is decided for you by a counsel of Elders: what you will be when you grow up, who you will marry, how many children you will have???? Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal, this thought-provoking novel revolves around 12-year-old Jonas who finds out that the world in which he has been living has secrets and that enjoying a stable and pain free society may actually not be worth the price of their freedom. ( )

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. 208p. Random House, 1993. Tr. $6.99. ISBN9780385732550; LC0385732554.

Utopia or Dystopia? In a seemingly perfect society, The Giver follows Jonas through his year as a “twelve.” His society values sameness, having rid humanity of all the emotional depth that can lead to dysfunction. Jonas eagerly awaits the ceremony of twelve, where he is to be assigned his future profession, but is aghast when he learns that he is to be the next “Receiver of Memory.” The highest honor the society can give, Jonas soon discovers that he will be the person who receives all the memories from before the time of sameness, but he will also be the only person who can know the world for all its beauty, terror, pain, and joy. What happens when he learns about emotion and the power of memory? Jonas and his mentor, the Giver, face a dilemma: should they risk their lives to return the ones they love to what they consider a full life?

Still an enthrallingly controversial novel, The Giver is a Newberry Medal award winner that is not to miss. Deceptively simple, this book deals with many complex themes. A true think piece that will open minds, The Giver allows readers to explore the value of diversity in a world in which none exists. (Grades 6-9). ( )

The Giver is an original and provocative science fiction story for mature children—with a target audience of 6th-8th grade (and advanced 5th graders with strong critical thinking skills). One of the most disturbing aspects of Lois Lowry’s futuristic tale of a civilization devoid of “color, pain or past” is the “slow reveal” of some of the darker elements of that society. The reader discovers that being “released” is to receive a lethal injection—to be put to death—as Jonas is watching his father do this to a baby. Also disturbing is the extent of deceptions—lies—of Jonas’s father regarding his work and the established practices of the community.

The book takes on the subject of forced conformity through government decree, with extreme consequences including the absence of music and color—and ultimately the murder of “expendable” humans. The breezy tone of the characters as they describe every day life belies the ominous implications of life without freedom of choice. I have not read very much science fiction and I am not a big fan of the genre, yet I loved this book and will probably seek out Lowry’s Gathering Blue and The Messenger. Newbery Medal (1994).

Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ( )

Summary: Jonus lives in a society that experiences no pain, hatred, or war. Unfortunately, the people also have no choices and live in a world of sameness. Because Jonus is different and has unusual powers of perception, he is given the assignment of Receiver when he turned twelve. His job is to keep all of the memories of pain, war and emotion that are physically passed along to him from the Giver. When Jonus learns the truth about the practices of the society, he makes a plan that will save the life of a baby he has grown to love and will change his community forever.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. The students could write their own descriptions of a perfect world.

2. As a class we could make a timeline and have the students add major milestones that usually happen to a person at each given age. Example: 5 – go to school, 16 – drive a car, etc.