Friday, November 23, 2007

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry
# pages: 180
ISBN #: 0395645662
Genre: dystopian YA fiction
Challenge(s): Book Award Winners (1994 Newbery Medal)

Setting: An “ideal” community without conflict, poverty, hunger, unemployment, divorce, injustice, or inequality.

First Sentence: “It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.”

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community.

Random Thoughts: The Giver is a thought-provoking and wonderfully written novel with a very interesting premise. Is it okay to limit individual choice to prevent people from making bad decisions? Can there be any real pleasure without pain?

Favorite scene: When Jonas is given the memory of the color red.

Most haunting scene: When Jonas is given the memory of the elephants. That one made me want to cry.

Rating: A+ (highly recommended)

Also reviewed by:
Valentina's Room
The Well-Read Child
the deus ex machina complex
This Redhead Reads
An Adventure in Reading
Confessions of a Book-a-holic

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