The Giver by Lois Lowry is the phenomenal story of one young boy's transition from child to adult and from mindless drone to individual making choices.
The Giver has been around for 22 years, and in that time, it has been banned, it has been read, it has been adored.
I first read The Giver in 4th grade. I remember loving it. I remember feeling like it was the greatest thing ever written. I remember reading it several times that year. But I didn't really remember the book itself . Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Lois Lowry about The Giver, so in preparation for that talk, I wanted to reread the book that I had loved.
I'm so glad I did.
One of the biggest things I noticed in this reread was my reaction to the end. As I got older and people talked about the ambiguousness of the ending and what happened to Jonah, I always thought they were stupid. But this time, I was like oooooh. I could see either interpretation of the ending. I also noticed the abuse and dark side of the community (and its correlation to real-life) sooner.
For those of you who haven't read The Giver, consider picking it up. It's a lot more tame than the dystopians released today. It also presents itself as a utopia which most dystopians today don't do.
For those of you who've read The Giver years ago, consider picking it back up. This is a book that grows with you. Rereading it might tell you more about your own growth than the actual book.
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