The Giver: A Newbery Award Winner

· Giver Quartet Book 1 · Sold by HarperCollins
4.5
9.15K reviews
Ebook
240
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

In Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal–winning classic, twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community.

Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce newchildren, who are assigned to appropriate family units. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Everyone is the same. Except Jonas.

Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test—when he must try to save someone he loves—he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?

Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

The Giver has become one of the most influential novels of our time. Don't miss the powerful companion novels in Lois Lowry's Giver Quartet: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

Ratings and reviews

4.5
9.15K reviews
Kamas Kirian
February 6, 2016
** spoiler alert ** It was a decent read, but the characters didn't have much depth. Jonas was the only one well developed. For a childrens/young adult book I guess this shouldn't be surprising. It reminded be of Brave New World and The City of Ember. City of Ember because of the children being forced into lifelong careers so early in life. Brave New World because of the family structures and lack of individuality within the society. Really, it's like political correctness gone horribly, madly wrong. It's rude to touch someone, to look at their body, to interrupt them, to even FEEL something for them is forbidden. The casualness of 'release' had me screaming in my head "Soylent Green is people" through most of the book. Thankfully we never see if that's true. **spoiler** I see there are further books in the series, but looking at the synopsis it doesn't appear that any one of them is a continuation of any other story. While Jonas was traveling over the mountains I got the impression he and Gabe didn't make it. I may pick up the other stories, since my wife has them in her classroom, but I just didn't feel all that excited by this one to compel me to seek out the others.
34 people found this review helpful
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A Google user
May 21, 2010
I actually had to read this book for my 8th grade reading class.I have actually longed to read this book. This book brings you to a world that you may, or I mean, I have compared it to our lives right now countless times. When it reached the climax, it almost seemed to me like the main plot/conflict of the story has just begun, and all that it had in the beginning was still the introduction to the Community and their Lives. Although the ending of the story was very nice, I think there should be a sequel to it. I have to admit that the end kind of let me hanging, like the author actually had more to this story. Whatever this book may bring you to, I definitely recommend you and anyone out there to read this book.
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A Google user
this book is astounding and wonderful i love the part where the giver shows the reciver(jonas) his memories i think it was the memory of snow and i love how jonas starts seeing colors that nobody else can see i think this books is powerful and i will reccomand this book to anybody who loves adventure and secret powers. I just never read a book so powerful and expressive as this book the giver i would love to publish my books someday. someday i want to be like my aunt suzzane weyn who also writes books like the bar code tattoo, distant waves, night dance, the retelling of the frog prince etc. I also want to write a powerful book like lois lowery.
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About the author

Lois Lowry is the author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the New York Times bestselling Giver Quartet and the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver.

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