The Giver

By: Louis Lowrey
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 208
Ages: 9-12

Every year there is a ceremony called the Ceremony of the Twelve. In that ceremony everyone is given a privilege based on their age. At the age of twelve, jobs are assigned. Jobs are assigned according to talents, but the person does not get to choose their own jobs. Spouses are assigned, and two children (one boy, one girl) are assigned to each couple. Some women are birth mothers, they are the only people in the society who are allowed to give birth to children, but they never get to see their children. Babies are kept in a nurturing house until they are one year old, and then they are assigned to a family. The family units dissolve once children are raised.

During the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas is given the Assignment of Receiver of Memory. The Receiver is the only keeper of the community’s collective memory. When the community became its painless, warless, and mostly emotionless state of tranquility and harmony, it abandoned all memories of pain, war and emotion. But the memories cannot disappear completely. Someone must keep them so that the community can avoid making the mistakes of the past, even though no one but the Receiver can bear the pain. Jonas receives the memories of the past, good and bad, from the current Receiver, a wise old man who tells Jonas to call him the Giver.

Eventually it is too much for Jonas to handle, and he escapes this "perfect" society to the real world. We are left in suspense because we don't know if he lived, or died.

Who would I recommend this to? Definatley older kids, possibly 6th graders.

Possible problems/conflicts? This book has its conflicts, I think that some parents wouldn't want their kid reading this book. It is all about an extreme communist society.

My reaction: This is my favorite book of all time. 5 stars *****