Rating: 
Summary: absolutely astounding
Review: This is one of the few books that stays with me from my childhood (I am a high school senior now). My friends and I still have discussions about this book from time to time. It will always be a favorite of mine.I remember how entranced I was when my librarian first read it to me. It was probably my first exposure to a book with fantasy/science fiction elements and is probably what incited my interest in that genre. I am forever indebted to Lowry for writing this book and stimulating the thoughts of a little girl all those years ago. I really have to compliment Lowry on her amazing skill. In her novel, she has created a world very different from our own; one free of pain, suffering and fear. However, the cost of living in such a world, as Jonas, the main character, will discover, is very high. This novel shows the reader the value of his or her right to make decisions. In addition, the Giver, in its counter-utopian standpoint, reminds us that without the dark, one can never truly appreciate the light. How wonderful can love and comfort be when one has never experienced pain or sorrow? How enjoyable is the sudden burst of warmth one feels upon entering a house if one has never played for hours in the cold? In order to fully appreciate the good in the world one needs something to compare it against. Everything is relative.
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Summary: The Giver
Review: "It was a sound of rage and grief and it seemed never to end". "The Giver" by Lois Lowry is a book about a boy named Jonas that has been living in his world always looking forward to the "Ceremony of the Twelve", but when he is called last instead of 19th and given a special job his life changes forever. At the ceremony everybody was given a job. Jonas was separated from his friends and family. He was to receive all the information that was kept from the community. Now Jonas has to hold all of the memories of war, hate, peace and death. Jonas was a true rescuer. He was living in a community that had no connection to the outside world, and dealt with visions and thoughts no one in his society wanted to have. Jonas could have not gone for his training and left the Giver with the horrible memories but he took in all of the horrible ones and the good ones. Jonas played a very important role in the book. He was not only the Receiver of Memories and the main character, but a righteous, friendly, giving person. This is a very important book to read if you like fiction books. It is not a good Holocaust book unless you have a good imagination and can see how they live in a ghetto like situation. You should read this book for fun but not if you are studying the Holocaust. It is an excellent book for all ages.
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Summary: The Giver Book Reveiw
Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry How would you feel if you never knew your mom, you couldn't see colors, and it never snowed, rained, or got hot? You might not like it, but the people of the Community never knew anything else. In the community, everyone is perfectly equal. There is no crime, no poverty, and everyone thinks that they are happy. When Jonas is assigned the job of Receiver of Memory in the Community, he learns more than he could have ever imagined existed. The Giver of the memories in this book is a rescuer, because he helps Jonas out of the lie that he had been living in. The Giver had to be brave and intellegent, or else he would not have his job as the person who held the memories of the Community. I think this is an important book to read because its message is that real happiness can not exist without some insecurity. The Giver is a great book becasue it makes you think. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading, and if you don't, read it anyway.
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Summary: I couldn't put this book down!!!
Review: Riaz Jamaludheen (ferrari2@speedrules.com) from Bangkok, Thailand. March 2001. I am 13 years old. I am currently in the eighth grade. I read this book in sixth grade as a class novel, but I always read ahead of the class. Even when my teacher told us never to read ahead, I read ahead. I couldn't put this book down. I thought the ending was too fast. Suddenly Jonas (the main character/receiver) sees the real world celebrating Christmas. This isn't very interesting because, Christmas for us is a yearly celebration. We usually have fun on the auspicious occasion. Anyway, I liked this book, especially when the giver was transferring his memories to Jonas. This author is very descriptive and knows how to express the feelings of the main character(s). However, the second time I didn't enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed it the first time because I basically knew what was going to happen. Nevertheless, it was still a good book. If there is no action on every page, I get bored, and eventually just end up reading half of the book. A good example of a book with action on every page is The Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is my favorite book. I keep re-reading the books, and surprisingly, I never get bored. Anyway, The Giver is a book for people who like weird and unusual fantasies in books. The theme of this book is based on how Jonas is living in a community, different from what we would live in. The author is trying to express the feelings of living in a different community. For example, in the first chapter, the author writes, Jonas was almost frightened because he did not know what his assignment would be. Then after a long time he says that frightened is not the right word for it and apprehensive is the right word. So by reading this, you get the idea that he is cautious of what kind of language he is using. Then his job turns out to be weird, enjoyable, and sometimes, painful. This job is weird because, you would never expect a person to be holding the memories of a whole community and to pass on his memories to another person who will also (after the person who passes the memories is done passing the memories) hold all the memories of the community. The Giver only passes on his memories, when the time has come and when the community finds a good receiver. Then the book goes on about how he receives his memories, and suddenly ends, with a strange ending.
Rating:
Summary: A great Book!
Review: The reason that this book is so great is that it can be read on two levels. The first, more obvious level is that it tells a story about what the future could possibly be like. The concept of a colorless, symetrically boring society is very original and provokes thought in the reader. The main plotline tells the story of a young boy's struggle when he begins to realize all the things that once existed in the world, such as color, animals and emotions. The fact that only he knows the real truth creates a deep sense of loneliness in the 12 year old. Moreover, this book can be read on a deeper level. The themes of conformity and morality hold a strong presence in this novel. In short, "The Giver" is an excellent story that can be enjoyed by all readers over 11 years old.
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Summary: The Giver is a great book
Review: I really enjoyed the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is a great book about a child in an unrealistic world. He has the job to handle the whole world's memories. It is a great book with an excellent story line. It is a must have, you should all purchase the book right now. Jonas, is the coolest kid. Plus, the story has a great meaning behind it. That is that a society who loses the past is bound to make the same mistakes, and that society can become corrupt, so don't let it happen.
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Summary: Decievingly Simple
Review: At first glance, The Giver, a mere 180 pages easily readable in a single sitting, seems to be the average teenage novel. The plot and characters are fairly easy to comprehend and you don't have to be in an honors class to understand and appreciate this book. When I first read it in 6th grade, I thought The Giver was pretty cool. It's basically the story of how Jonas, a young boy, struggles with his totally concrolled life and eventually begins to break loose. He learns that while his society may be safe, having no choices and no freedom is not really living. Now, 5 years later, I read it again and am totally awestruck at the depth contained within this small novel. Moving beyond the plot and characters, I began seeing the social commentary and warnings that Lois Lowry had set in place. It honestly made me think about the world, and in fact, the thought of a life such as Jonas' is deeply disturbing. Imagine a world without color, without music, without love. A very scary notion, which makes for a truly awesome book. I highly reccomend it for readers of all ages. Grown-ups and middle schoolers alike with both enjoy this wonderful novel.
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Summary: Whant something that'll make ya think?
Review: The Giver, definitely qualifies as one the better books I've read. It gives a very strange twist on an explanation for our societies imperfections. Though the novel is never associated with a specific time period, it is a good implication to the way things could be later on. I'm not a huge fan of Sci-Fi literature, but when you can finish a book in less than a day, you know you've found a good one!
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Summary: The way I saw it.
Review: The Giver is a very appropriate book for the study of folklore because it shows a fictional way people live their lives. The community is an excellent example on how fictional this story really is. If the reader reads this story they might think this could be a real community somewhere on earth. The book does not have families that live in houses. They have family units that live in dwellings. To me dwellings are considered where animals live. Another thing that is fictional is people asking for release. This day and age you can't just say I want to apply for release because I am too old or I can't handle this job. Also, you can't just kill a twin baby because it is smaller and it might produce problems with the family. In this day and age you have to deal with things as they come to you. The community that Lois Lowry created for the reader is very fascinating and creative. She has an excellent imagination. There were a couple of questions I kept asking myself as I was reading the story. Who would want to become a birthmother and give the baby away after she was producing her own children? Why would they have ceremonies for kids becoming a 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. and not a regular birthday? Why would you want a child that has already been named for you? Wouldn't the family units want to name it themselves? Maybe the community has it's reasons for these types of crazy laws they have but if they knew the way the world worked today I am almost sure they would want to live their life a whole different way.
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Summary: When Conformity gets out of hand
Review: I think this was a wonderful book. It takes all of your 5 senses and restricts them to a black and white cutout of the perfect world. Then it takes that cutout and breaches it through the mind of Jonas and the Giver, making the discovery of color, smell, hearing, etc., as wonderful as it was the first time you learned it. As Jonas learns everything for the first time, so do you, and you don't know what will happen next. This book will take you on an everlasting thrill ride as you look into a world that has never been but could be, and how a world without freedom would look. So, open your mind, and open this book! :-)
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