The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry
 179 pages
Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin (1993)
ISBN:  0385732554
Reading Level/Lexile: 6th grade and up/760L
Genre:  Fantasy, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Annotation/Teaser:  In a world where there is no pain, no fear, no color, and no choices to make, Jonas is expecting to be assigned his role in the Community.  What happens when Jonas is chosen to receive special training from The Giver.  Will he be able to handle the fear and pain that comes with this special assignment?

Plot Summary: Jonas, an eleven year old, lives in a futuristic, utopian world where pain, fear, hatred, and war have been eliminated.  But choice has also been eliminated and there is no competition so everyone is basically the same.  At twelve, every member of the society is assigned a job.  Jonas is nervous about turning twelve.  He really has no preference of what career will be chosen for him.  However, he is different from most of the other citizens.  Jonas has a tremendous power of perception.  At the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is given the job of Receiver of Memory.  He is the keeper of the community's collective memory.  As he begins to receive the memories, he realizes how bland his world has been.  Jonas realizes the people in his community are happy because they know nothing else and the knowledge that he now has could cause major chaos.   Will Jonas choose to stay in his safe community or will he choose to run and be able to experience a new life full of color, love, knowledge, and, best of all, choices?

About the Author:  Lois Lowry  Lois Lowry was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on March 20, 1937.  She is the second child of three born into a military family.
"From the time I was eight or nine, I wanted to be a writer. Writing was what I liked best in school; it was what I did best in school.
I was a solitary child, born the middle of three, who lived in the world of books and my own imagination. There are some children, and I was this kind of child, who are introverts and love to read — who prefer to curl up with a book than to hang out with friends or play at the ball field. Children like that begin to develop a feeling for language and for story. And that was true for me — that's how I became a writer.
My books have varied in content and in style. Yet it seems to me that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, is a fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells of the same things: the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver takes place against the background of yet another very different culture and time. Though broader in scope than my earlier books, it nonetheless speaks to the same concern: the vital need for humans to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
I use the Anastasia books to make myself laugh and to lighten up between serious books. But I also use them to deal with serious topics in a different way, disguised by humor.
I think it is my own children, all of them grown now, who have caused me to expand my view. One of my sons was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force; as a mother during the Gulf War, I was newly stunned into fear for the world and a heightened awareness of the necessity to find a way to end conflict. One of my daughters has become disabled as a result of the disease of the central nervous system; through her, I have a new and passionate awareness of the importance of human connections that transcend physical differences.
And I have grandchildren now. For them, I feel a greater urgency to do what I can to convey the knowledge that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future as human beings depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."

Lois Lowry Bio (n.d.) Retrieved from www.scholastic.com

Critical Evaluation:  There are several symbols in this book.  The first is the color red.  This is the first color that Jonas sees.  Red is usually symbolic of love, passion, and fire.  So it is appropriate that Fiona's hair is red because Jonas is obviously attracted to her and has a desire to feel the emotions for her.  The color red also symbolizes Jonas' separation from the community because of his ability to see color and feel.  Another symbol in The Giver is the sled.  The sled's movement downhill signifies the transfer of memories form the Giver to Jonas.  The sled also represents the rescue when Jonas finds the sled as they are about to give up.
One of the elements that I found very strong in this book is the imagery, especially in the scene where the Giver transmits the memory of Christmas with his family and the strong feeling of love.  There is a change in Jonas that night as he throws away his anti-Stirrings pill.  He is finally showing some independence.
This book is one of the first Dystopian books written.  There are a couple of things that bothered me in the book.  One was the killing or release of newborns.  I do understand that this was the final lesson that Jonas had to see in order to be disconnected from the community.  My son read this book in 8th grade and hated it.  He was also bothered by the baby killing in the book.  But this book is included in school curriculum across the country so I felt it needed to be included in my database. 

Curriculum Ties:  English, Language Arts, Character Education

Book Talk Ideas:  What if you lived in a world with no feelings, emotions, colors, and choices?

Controversial Issues:  Violence, death, suicide

 Defense:

*I will keep the library's selection policy on hand and memorized with a good understanding  of the standards and policies to show that the selection meets the standards. 

*I will keep good and bad reviews (both electronic and print) and make sure they are from reliable and respected sources such as School of Library Journal, Booklist, and YALSA. I will have copies of these reviews to give away. 

*I will confirm the library's position to provide intellectual freedom as stated in the Library Bill of Rights and keep a copy of this.

*I will keep a written rationale to justify the reasons this material is included in the collection, such as educational significance and curriculum ties.

*I will be respectful and calm and practice "active listening".

*I will make sure I read the material and are very familiar with it. 

* I will keep a reconsideration form on file in the event that my other strategies don't work. 

Why I Chose This Book?  I chose this book because it  has been included in our local middle school 8th grade honors English curriculum.