*Summary:
In a perfect world there would be no hunger, pain, or
war; but what would we have to give up in order to have that perfect world.
11-year old Jonas lives in a perfect world, there is no discrimination because
there is no color, everyone dresses the same, everyone is treated exactly the
same. Each December the society has a ceremony in which the new 12s are
assigned their job in the community. Jonas is assigned the most honorable job:
The Receiver. Jonas will hold all the memories for the whole community; only he
will have memories of war, pain, hunger, and death. Jonas begins to learn that
the community’s way of life is not so perfect, and that they are all living a
shallow and meaningless existence without love. Jonas and his mentor, the Giver
plan to change this.
*Bibliography:
Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin.
*My Rating:
The genre of dystopian literature is one of my all-time
favorites, so The Giver was a perfect
fit for me. I loved how this book provided insight not only into the growth and
learning of the main character Jonas, but it also makes kids think with a more
societal perspective. This book has lots of suspense and has so many layers
that you could easily read the book two or three times and still find something
new each time. Dystopian novels are really popular right now, and I think a lot
of kids would love this book.
*Reviews:
Gr. 5-9. At the ceremony of the twelves when young people
are given their job assignments for life, Jonas becomes the Receiver of
Memories. In a seemingly Utopian culture, free of crime, pain, and prejudice,
Jonas discovers during his training that his community is paying a high price
for not having choices. The open-ended conclusion leaves Jonas' fate up to the
reader to interpret.
Austin, P. (2003, Apr). The giver. Book Links, 12,
34. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197231076?accountid=7113
*Uses in a library:
The
Giver would be a great way to introduce a genre study of
dystopian novels. A librarian could create a theme board asking students to
drop in suggestions about what a perfect world would look like to them. The librarian
could then choose a few of the entries and provide these kids a small prize.
Hopefully a little contest like this would get kids thinking and maybe by
featuring this novel and other dystopian books on a theme board kids’ interest
might be piqued to read one of these books.
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