The Giver by Lois Lowry

Lowry creates a perfect society...or so it seemed. In this future society everyone is happy. It is a society which has chosen to be ignorant of its past, blissfully ignorant. A society which has systematically chosen to give up individuality and free will for the great good. A society in which laws and rules, as well as extreme 'sameness', guide daily life. A society that assigns husbands to wives, children to couples, and jobs to everyone. A society without illness, but also without weather or even colors.

Upon his 12th birthday, Jonas begins his training with The Giver and is exposed for the first time to the concepts of war, sadness, and death, as well as the joy of a simple snowfall. How can Jonas cope with the truth? And what does he do next?

In Jonas' community, a future set seemingly utopian society, people lived their lives similar to our own. Husbands and wives raised children in single family homes. The families sat around the table for breakfast each morning, took their vitamins, and the kids rode their bikes off to school, while the parents went off to work.

However, the world in which Jonas lived was not at all like our own. The parents did not fall and love and get married, they were chosen for each other by the Council of Elders. Babies are delivered by "birthmothers" whose job it is to be artificially inseminated and carry babies. Once born babies are sent to an orphanage before being allotted to married couples through an application process, at a maximum of one boy and one girl per family unit. The jobs that adults went off to were chosen for them, again by the Council of Elders.

In Jonas' community, the weather was heavily regulated - each day had perfect weather. Special pills were taken to control emotions and sexual feelings. There are no animals in the community, no insects, no fish. There are no people with physical disabilities - no illnesses. As a result of apparent genetic engineering, everyone in the community is colorblind. Sameness was encouraged and enforced, and anything different or unique was removed. Even music was cut from their society.

The people of this community had no memory or knowledge of life any other way. They knew nothing of the history of humanity - no sense of war or tragedy. The unknowingly lived in ignorant bliss. They no connection to people of outside communities.

This was no utopia at all.

Read Lois Lowry's acceptance speech for insight on where the idea for this book came from how it evolved over time.

The Giver is the first in a loose trilogy of books by Lois Lowry in that they all take place in this world. The other two books are Gathering Blue and Messenger.

Among others, The Giver received the following awards:

• 1994 Newbery Medal
• 1996 William Allen White Award
• American Library Association listings for "Best Book for Young Adults", "Notable Children's Book," and "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000."
• A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
• Winner of the Regina Medal
• Booklist Editors' Choice
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Did you realize that The Giver is #14 on the American Library Associations list of Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 (source)?

It has been labeled a "the suicide book" or "the euthanasia book" and is often challenged in schools. This article from USA Today goes into further detail. Mark E Donovan explains how people attempted to have the book banned at the school he taught in.

Do you think that the content of this book is appropriate for middle school students?

Teachers can use these webquests to help students get the most from this book:

The Giver is the first in a loose trilogy of books by Lois Lowry in that they all take place in this world. The other two books are Gathering Blue and Messenger.

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