The Giver by Lois Lowry

Bibliographic Information

Lowry, Lois. (2002). The Giver. New York: Laurel-Leaf Books.

Descriptive Summary

Set in a dystopian future, this book follows twelve year-old Jonas as he prepares to take on the role of Receiver of Memory for his community. In a place where pain has been eliminated by all citizens having their memories removed from their brains, including all emotional depth, Jonas has been selected to be left out of this process and instead only he will hold the collective memory of society. These memories will be passed on to him by the aged, former Receiver of Memory. Soon, only Jonas will be able to break rules, lie, feel lust, etc. In this he will be alone.

The more Jonas learns from his predecessor, the Giver, the more he realizes that his people are not happy but rather forced to live detached from their lives. Jonas faces the dilemma of staying with his community and accepting its bleakness, or endangering himself by trying to run away to live a real life.

Evaluative Comments

This novel was enjoyable to read, as it was fast-paced, descriptively written, and the ending was not revealed until the last moment. It was very easy, while reading this story, to feel involved in Jonas’ struggle.

Despite my enjoyment of it, this novel has been criticized and challenged by many as being too canonical and not targeted at youth despite being written for youth. It does not involve any realistic youth challenges to be appropriate for this age group. However, others have praised this book for encouraging young people to be free thinkers.

This novel has been both praised and slandered and challenged.

I personally would give this book a 7/10, for its original content and encouraging young adults to read atypically.

Suggested Audience

Ages 8 up. 

Readers’ Advisory Notes

page-turner, controversial, eerie

If you enjoyed this book, try these other titles by Lois Lowry set in this same dystopian:

• Gathering Blue
• Messenger
• Son 

Booktalking Hook

Jonas lives in the perfect world where there is no pain, no choices to be made, and everyone knows their place. His world is perfect. But when Jonas begins learning from the Giver, his world spirals as he realizes that only he can experience both the pain and pleasures that life has to offer. Can he live with this knowledge alone, or do others still exist who are like him? If so, can he find them? For Jonas, this decision can only be made once.

Reason for Inclusion

This book is on many school reading lists in North America and has won numerous awards despite the controversy surrounding it.

Category

Fantasy, Science Fiction or Horror 
Controversial, Challenged or Banned