Synopsis: Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back. -Goodreads

Review: Out of all of the books I’ve covered this week, The Giver is unquestionably my favorite. I have read this book more times than I remember and it’s one I am always eager to recommend to friends and family. We had to read this for English class in (I think) grade seven and it has stuck with me ever since.

The Giver was my first look into dystopian fiction and how society could evolve. At first the world Jonah lives in seems down right idyllic but the farther you go into the story the more you see a loss of many of the joys we take for granted. There is very little personal freedom here, your job and spouse are chosen for you, even your children so you don’t get too attached. There’s another that was a huge shock, but the memory of reading it has stuck with me through the years so if you haven’t read this yet then I’ll let you discover it on your own. I can promise it will be worth the read though.

The people that make up the Community are a seemingly average bunch, but that’s part of what makes this story so memorable. Their lives seem like they could be ours, or at the very least these people could be your neighbors, but here they are living in this society without realizing how much they are missing. Jonah’s parents are especially frustrating as they blindly accept their lives.

Compared to some of the dystopian books that are popular today, The Giver is admittedly tame but that’s what has always made it stand out from the crowd for me. At first you may not even realize that the characters are living in a less than perfect situation and that’s a pretty interesting commentary on today’s society. What things could be better but are blindly accepted because we don’t know what we’re missing?

Lois Lowry has written a few other books in this series that I never picked up because they aren’t based on the same characters, but this is something I plan to fix in the near future as she is clearly a wonderful author with a lot to offer. I saw her speak at BEA and she made everyone at my table shed a few tears. So, if you haven’t yet then I very much recommend you give The Giver a try, it’s a great book and one that will get you thinking about all of the things we hold dear.

Buy the book @Amazon (US) @Amazon (CAN)

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Second Opinions:
@Bird Brain(ed) Book Blog 
@Young Adult Critic
@My Guilty Obsession