Citation:
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1993. Print.
Annotation:
Jonas lives in a regulated world where rules run everything and when he is given the power to receive all memories of all humans that no one else but The Giver has, he realizes how terrible his world is.
Justification for Nomination:
Lowry creates a place in the future without colors or music or weather. This place is strictly regulated and no one makes their own choices. The Elders choose spouses and when someone can have children and they also decide what a twelve-year-old's occupation is going to be for the rest of their life. Jonas at twelve is given the rare honor of Receiver which means that he receives all memories that no one else knows. Memories of snow and war and colors. This child is exposed to all of humanity's ups and downs and times when people made their own decisions. But, it is when Jonas sees his father Release a newborn (which essentially is murdering it by lethal injection) he snaps and escapes.
Jonas is made to feel special with this honor that only is bestowed upon few people. He embraces his task with vigor, but as he realizes the truth he begins to resent the community. Jonas loses his innocence each time he sees a new memory and he tests the boundaries of authority by giving his memories to the newborn that his family is caring for when it is strictly forbidden for him to do so.
The conflict in the story is a wonderful social commentary on lethal injection and also what a world would be like without choices and everything else we take for granted. Jonas has an inner conflict when he has to realize what to do about everything that he knows. He has to decide to turn his back on his family and his home or go on living a lie.
Everything about this novel from the plot to the language to the setting is immaculate. Lowry's writing is rich and easy to follow. Her characters are deep and meaningful. Each sentence is inviting and relatable. The quest for truth and Jonas' initiative to create truth in his world is mesmerizing. This is one book that wholeheartedly deserves every award it has ever gotten. Reading this book will make you think of your own life in a different way and make you appreciate everything you may take for granted. Have you ever really looked at snow? Have you ever noticed that the color red is everywhere? Read this book and you'll never look at those things the same way again.
Genre:
Science Fiction / Coming of Age / Realistic
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