The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry

A novel for middle school kids

5 stars

            A twelve-year old boy, Jonas gets assigned the most important job in the community, the Receiver of Memory.  He finds out what the past was like and why they community is the way it is now. 

            I read this book when I was in middle school on my own, and I wish we had read it in school.  Reading this book with my college classmates brought forth an amazing discussion that I never got to experience until now.  When reading it for the second time, I could not remember what happened when members of the community were to be released.  Part of me wanted to believe that they went to a different community to live the rest of their days.  I didn’t want it to be a bad thing.  Another interesting part of the book was the baby boy; Gabriel that Jonas’ family took in at nighttime.  I felt that Gabe was an important part of the story and possibly a metaphor for something.  Maybe he represents what the future of the community will look like after Jonas runs away.  I wish we had more time to discuss this in the class. Lois Lowry is a fantastic writer, and I would suggest this book to anyone.

            The ending of the book was confusing to me.  I wasn’t sure how to take or what really happened in the end.  It was a happy ending, but I am still unsure whether Jonas dies or not.  This is where the sci-fi part of the book confuses me.  I think that I wanted to know more how the community was changed, and what would happen to Gabriel. 

            The Giver, at first appears to be a utopia but we find out through Jonas’ story that it is really a dystopia.  There are so many connections and literary elements throughout this book.  The possible activities you can perform in the classroom are endless.  You could have a small group book talk; have a debate over Sameness versus today’s society, a no-color activity, and memory treasure box.