The Giver was written by Lois Lowry and was published by Bantam Books in 1993. The book also won a Newbury Medal in 1994 and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults Award, Notable Children's Books Award, and 100 Most Challenged Books of 1990-2000 Award. This chapter book was written for middle school students and deals with many of the issues of puberty. There are many themes at work in The Giver, but first and foremost, is the importance of memory to the human experience. In The Giver, only one person holds all the memories for all the other people in the community; and so as people have learned how to forget pain and suffering, they also have learned to forget how to feel happiness. The second major theme is individuality. Jonas, the book's main character is a child moving from childhood into adulthood, and learning how to become an individual in a community where everyone is the same. The story begins with Jonas turning twelve, and discussing strange events that Jonas is experiencing, seeing in color and having sexual urges. To him, this is strange in a community where everyone sees in shades of grey and feels apathy towards each other. He is then chosen to be The Receiver, which is an honored position in the community. Basically speaking, The Giver, who stores all the memories of life before the utopian society began, will transfer all those memories to Jonas. But as Jonas begins to gain memories, he starts discovering many things about this utopia that are morally wrong. The book culminates with Jonas stealing a baby that was scheduled to die, and leaving the community, where he discovers that life isn't what he thought it was outside of the community. This book is a great science fiction story for middle school children. It incorporates many of the emotional milestones that children go through at this time. It is a great story to delve into.
Monday, September 26, 2011
The Giver
The Giver was written by Lois Lowry and was published by Bantam Books in 1993. The book also won a Newbury Medal in 1994 and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults Award, Notable Children's Books Award, and 100 Most Challenged Books of 1990-2000 Award. This chapter book was written for middle school students and deals with many of the issues of puberty. There are many themes at work in The Giver, but first and foremost, is the importance of memory to the human experience. In The Giver, only one person holds all the memories for all the other people in the community; and so as people have learned how to forget pain and suffering, they also have learned to forget how to feel happiness. The second major theme is individuality. Jonas, the book's main character is a child moving from childhood into adulthood, and learning how to become an individual in a community where everyone is the same. The story begins with Jonas turning twelve, and discussing strange events that Jonas is experiencing, seeing in color and having sexual urges. To him, this is strange in a community where everyone sees in shades of grey and feels apathy towards each other. He is then chosen to be The Receiver, which is an honored position in the community. Basically speaking, The Giver, who stores all the memories of life before the utopian society began, will transfer all those memories to Jonas. But as Jonas begins to gain memories, he starts discovering many things about this utopia that are morally wrong. The book culminates with Jonas stealing a baby that was scheduled to die, and leaving the community, where he discovers that life isn't what he thought it was outside of the community. This book is a great science fiction story for middle school children. It incorporates many of the emotional milestones that children go through at this time. It is a great story to delve into.
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