The Giver

The Giver was the designated re-read on my list, and I'm very glad that it was. I remember being in 5th or 6th grade last time I read it, and even back then I knew that it was special somehow. It easily falls into the category of books that I love simply for their originality, diction and presentation. So far, out of all the books I have read this semester, it is my favorite.

Among some of the things that stood out to me upon re-reading it, I focused closer on the details of the dystopian community in the book. I feel as though, over the years, The Giver has been lumped along with other books in a genre simply labeled something like "YA Dystopian Sci-Fi" but now I find I have a hard time classifying it. I don't want to label it, really. I think that the book, its message, its presentation and its tone are all in a category of their own. That is undoubtedly why I enjoyed it so much.

But what really intrigued me this time was the fact you can so easily argue that the society of "the community" is not the kind of dystopia that makes every shred of humanity in you squirm with discomfort (unlike many traditionally dystopian books). Especially during the first half of the book, I found myself sympathizing with many of the community's methods and reasons for operating the way it does. When, in the course of the unraveling story, unnerving new facts about the society were brought up, I waged a little conflict with myself, trying to decide whether or not the community had more faults than virtues.

Lowry's unique tones of ambiguity and mystery in this book are ideal for generating discussion topics for a class of young adults. My mind was working overtime with all of the activities I could come up with about this story, particularly activities that encouraged my students to take a look at their own community.

The book is unusually brief, in fact it is much shorter than I remember, but this in no way affects its ability to reach out to the reader and draw them into the story. I feel as though Lois Lowry chose her words very carefully (another quality in writing that I prefer) and the story is a perfect balance between correctly chosen scenes and carefully omitted details.

It has come to my knowledge that Walden Media, of Bridge to Terabithia and The Chronicles of Narnia fame, is now in the process of producing a movie adaptation of The Giver. Last I heard, Jeff Bridges was set to star as Giver. Its tentative release date is 2011, but having just been reminded of the richness (and film-ability) of the story, I want it to be out sooner!