The Giver

Rating:
Summary: Great - for those that want to live in a Perfect World
Review: Most people want to live in a perfect world. They never realize that a perfect world would not be fun at all. This books helps everyone realize thatt perfect is boring and monotonous. The same schedule, weather, "birthday" every year - and every day. After reading this book, I realized that I'm happy with the way life is now, always changing and never the same again.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book That Says Everything
Review: Ms.Lowry shows her best in this book.It is about a boy Jonas,who becomes The Reciver of Memory.When I say this book says everything it says everything. For example: 1.You may not chose your own mate.Why?Because of gender issues.No boy+boy or girl+girl relationships. 2.Only BirthMothers can bear children.Why?So mothers won't have to feel the loss of children. 3.No color.Why?The only solution to racism. Read the book,and you'll realize how good it is!

Rating:
Summary: Lowry Gives Much Through The Giver
Review: Much like the themes of Brave New World and The Handmaiden's Tale, The Giver presents the flaws of a "perfect world" where everything is controlled. And similar to other futuristic tales, this one has its "hero," but in this story that hero is Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy. Like most children, Jonas is filled with questions. Once he is labeled as a "receiver," the separation between himself and the well-tuned world he was born into begins. Jonas is forced to feel and see things that his community has worked so hard to deny and make disappear. The main theme that stood out in my mind is: If things have always been done this way, why change? How can we change? This is a riveting read. I could not put this book down until Jonas's journey was finished, at least among my pages. The book leaves the reader with thoughts to ponder, possibilities to imagine, and questions to debate. Read it, pass it on, and make an impact in the world. Change is sometimes needed...but we have to "see" the need first.

Rating:
Summary: Siddharth for Ten year-olds.
Review: My 10 year-old son and I read The Giver together. Each night we would approach the reading with great anticipation and each night end the reading with my son pleading for "just one more chapter." We reacted to its provacatve ending so strongly that my whole family read the book to give an opinion. We all disagree in our interpretation, which causes the best thing a family can ask for--discussion about timeless human issues--courage, wisdom vs. knowledge, compassion, truth, emotion, etc. My son will read Siddhartha some day (when he is much older) and I'll bet that as he examines the West through Hesse's writing, he will also remember Jonas' painful and surprising journey into truth in The Giver.

Rating:
Summary: The Giver
Review: My 10-year old daughter 'feeds' me with delicious, small book-snacks that I can read in a few hours. After reading 'The Giver', I was stunned. This was no snack. This was a medicinal.

The meat of the story is compelling enough as Lowry sets for us the proposition of a Utopian society where all children are wanted and all members of a community productive and neighborly. But lurking therein is an odor of something not right, which becomes much stronger and definitive as we learn with Jonas just what his Assignment is to be.

In my opinion, the bone of the story is revealed in Jonas' decision to leave the Community. Jonas carried me along on his journey, so much so that when we come to the end of the book, teetering on the snowy hill, Jonas faded and I was left there to decide what happened, not only to him, but, in a very disconcerting way, to me.

All day I've been thinking about Jonas. It is cold and snowing today and I've been thinking, "Could I walk in the snow, not knowing where I was going?" I got a little hungry and thought, "But, could I be starving and still go forward?" Jonas' bravery and newly gained hope against all odds has stirred me. I've read and re-read the text to get some definitive answer about what finally becomes of Jonas, and have decided that it is enough to launch down the hill with him, hoping.

That is what my daughter so much as said, when I ran to her room after finishing the book, distraught, and scared that the author had devised a truly sneaky way to cover his death. I asked her, "What do you think it means?" "Oh," she replied, "of course he lives." Yes, he does. In me.

Rating:
Summary: One possible future
Review: My 12 yr old daughter was reading The Giver for her 6th grade book group and got annoyed when I borrowed it from her each night, finishing it in three, when she had to read it with her class, a chapter at a time. I loved this book, it reminded me much of Ira Levin's book This Perfect Day, which is also about a perfect society where someone questions it's structure and rules. Actually , I loved the idea that children were encouraged to try out career choices-we should all be able to do that ! My daughter and I both wished there had been one more chapter, so we could see what Jonas would do with his new knowledge of the real world beyond the fabricated one he's always known.

Rating:
Summary: Really makes you think
Review: My 14 year old daughter had to read this book as a class project, when the class finished reading this thought prevocing work, they met with another 8th grade class from a neighboring Catholic school. As a concerned parent ( also a driver on the trip ), I read the book. It really made me think ! The children had a great discussion about making their own choices.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!
Review: My 5th grade teacher read this book to our class, I soon bought it. It's soo great! I think people should read some of it. I couldn't get my hand off of it!

Rating:
Summary: The Giver A HORRIBLE great book
Review: My 7th grade class is currently reading the giver by Lois Lowry. The setting is in a futuristic perfect community. As a child, the members of the community are observed by a comity and their jobs are selected for them. The main character in this book, Jonas, is selected to be the receiver of memory. Jonas no longer has to follow the rules of the community. He has the most important job in the entire community. He goes through strenuous training to absorb the information that his tutor, the giver, is passing to him. He is a very important person to have in the community because if something bad was about to happen he could warn them of what happened before. The wording in the book is very difficult to understand. It takes a lot of thinking to understand the concepts in this book. This book is supposed to portray a perfect world but I think that the community is far from perfect. Everything in the community is based on sameness. This means that there are no advances and no differences among people. I think a world like that would be very boring because you would wake up every day and know what was going to happen. There is very little change in the daily schedule. A major reason why I think this wasn't a very good book is because the author's idea of a perfect world isn't mine.

I gave this book two out of five star for three simple reasons. First of all I didn't agree with her idea of a perfect world. Jonas's world is far from anything that I would consider perfect. Secondly, I didn't think this book was very interesting. I had trouble reading more than two chapters at a time because the concepts of the book bored me. And lastly, I disliked the ending. I can't tell you about it but if you read this book after my review you will probably agree with my opinion of the ending. I would recommend this book only to those who like slow reading books.

Rating:
Summary: Great Novel for Young Adults
Review: My best friend has been bothering me to read this novel sinceour freshman year in high school. Finally, during my Sophomore year ofcollege, I decided to read it. It's a wonderful story, which should allow many young adults to think upon issues that they may not usually explore. It portrays a utopian like community very well--showing what a big brother/brave new world mentatlity can create.