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Average customer rating based on 11 comments:

tlc503, June 7, 2009 (view all comments by tlc503)
Jonas’ world is perfect. There is no pain, no wars and there’s no fighting. Jonas’ life is as usual, as everyone else’s. That is until he becomes the new Receiver of Memories. He goes through Pain and War and Fighting in his mind, but he also has happy memories. He wants his community to change but how? Will Jonas’ community ever change? Will Jonas use his memories to help him? Read it and you’ll find out.
I enjoyed The Giver because it makes you think. It’s an easy read, but the ideas are complex. When you’re reading The Giver you’ll think about your life and how lucky you are. The Giver has spots that you have to decide, spots that the author thought you could decide. Even at the end it leaves you on a cliffhanger. That’s why I enjoyed The Giver.

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Ally222, June 7, 2009 (view all comments by Ally222)
Jonas lives in a world with no pain, no fear, no love, no happiness, a world without feelings. When a child turns 12 he/she is assigned a job. When you grow too old to be in the community you are released. Everything is controlled, all choices are made for you. At Jonas's year 12 ceremony he is signaled out to receive special training from the Giver, therefor becoming the new Receiver, keeper of all memories. Jonas is given many memories some of which are: the memory of pain, of fear, of weather, of love, of happiness. Jonas slowly begins to realize that the community he lives in is unfair. No one has actual feelings. Compared to Jonas and his newly acquired feelings, everyone seems like robots. Jonas wants the rest of the community to have feelings too, to have freedom, to truly experience life as Jonas knows it is supposed to be lived. Jonas knows the world he lives in is wrong, but can he change it? Very unlikely.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves science fiction or books about the future. The Giver isn't a difficult read, you just have to read between the lines, and the whole concept can be hard to grasp. This is a truly amazing book, lots of action, detail, and suspense. The 4/5 grade class that I'm in read this book as a book club book, so it's appropriate for 4th graders. The only less "age appropriate" parts are when Jonas is bathing a elderly woman and when he has a dream caused by the stirrings (puberty), but even those parts really aren't bad. The Giver really makes you think about the world we live in today, how fortunate, and unfortunate we really are. How our world is controlled. Even if you do not like the plot outline, I would still recommend this book, it is a very short read, why not give it a shot?

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maggie_Brenner, June 4, 2009 (view all comments by maggie_Brenner)
Jonas lives in a perfect place called the Community. In the Community each age has it's own group. By the time you reach the age twelve, they stop counting. Unless you go to the records. But another thing special happens when you reach the age twelve. You get a job. The town Elders basically decide what is best for you, and at the Twelves Ceremony you are told what you are assigned to. Jonas thought he might get something interesting, like a Nuturer like his father, or maybe work with the old. But what he gets turns his world around, and when he finds the truth about the community, he sees it in a whole different way. This book will make you think, make you re-read, and argue with other people on what you think happens. I liked The Giver because it had a sense of adventure, mystery, and creepiness all rolled into one. I also liked it because it made you think. I'd recommend it to older kids, because it has some things that littler kids couldn't understand.

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780440237686

Author:

Lowry, Lois

Publisher:

Laurel Leaf Library

Author:

Lowry, Lois

Location:

New York, N.Y.

Subject:

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic

Subject:

Science fiction

Subject:

Social Situations - General

Subject:

Ethics

Subject:

Social Situations - Values

Subject:

Children's 12-Up - Fiction - Science Fiction

Subject:

Control

Subject:

Euthanasia

Subject:

Social control

Subject:

Ciencia-ficciâon

Subject:

Etica

Subject:

Control social

Subject:

Social Issues - Values

Subject:

Fantasy & Magic

Subject:

Coming of age

Edition Description:

Laurel-Leaf

Series:

Readers Circle

Series Volume:

27

Publication Date:

September 2002

Binding:

Mass Market Paperbound

Language:

English

Pages:

192

Dimensions:

6.91x4.22x.53 in. .22 lbs.

Age Level:

12-17