Rating: 
Summary: A Book That Helps You To Reflect On Life.
Review: I first read this book in third grade and even then I was able to realize what a profound literary work it was. One of the first books that drew me into reading for fun, it was one I have reread many times. The plot and setting make you think about your own life and make your imagination strech into another world. Now in seventh grade I'm able to see the deeper meaning of this book and I reccomend it for anyone wanting to go on an amazing adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent
Review: I first read this book several years ago and have been rereading it ever since. Only recently did I learn that it was, at one point, banned because of "explicit sexual content." I had to laugh at this because the only thing sexual that happened in the story was something very natural to a young person's development. (Please remember that the protagonist is an adolescent.) It was also crucial to the story as it showed how the community attempted to stifle sexual and romantic feelings (this includes love) in its members.I have to admit that there are parts of the book that are too heavy for younger readers. Aside from the above-mentioned situation, there is euthanasia and infanticide. Yet these things are necessary for the reader to really understand what the characters' lives are like. They are a community without feelings, without history, without the ability to cope with anything that is out of the ordinary. Only two people in the story, a young boy named Jonas and an old man known as the Giver, have feelings, emotions and true awareness. Only they can see colors and hear music and experience joy, anger, sadness and other feelings. In the end, Jonas is smart enough to use all the knowledge and information that he has received to do some good. Instead of letting the community continue to hide, he and the Giver carry out a plan that saves everyone. (At least, that is what the plan was supposed to do. The story ends without clearing up what happened to the community.) The book teaches the necessity of sharing emotions--be they happy ones or sad ones. It teaches the importance of history and the richness of variety. Its ultimate moral lesson is that people cannot hide from the darker aspects of life, because in doing so they hide from all of life and ultimately from love as well. Then the darker aspects (euthanasia and infanticide, among other things) win anyway. We can't kill them by hiding from them: we have to take them head-on.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I first read this book when I was 21 and more than a little hesitant to read what I deemed a "children's book." I could not have been more wrong. This is an amazing book. A new 1984 aimed at young adults, but an unbelievably great read for persons of all ages. This is one of the only books I have ever been able to read more than once, and it has not yet ceased to amaze me. I highly reccomend this for readers of all ages, and see it as one of the best written and most original stories I have come across.
Rating:
Summary: A lesson wrapped in an excellent story
Review: I first read this book when I was almost Jonas' age, and I absolutely fell in love with the story. At the time I didn't know why I liked it so much, nor did I understand why the author chose the ending to be so abrupt. I was left wanting to know more about what happened to Jonas and Gabriel, and what effect their leaving had on the community. "That's all?" I yelled when I read the final page. I clamored for a sequel, but even then I knew that in all honesty, a sequel was unnecessary.
Now, almost eight years later, I have gained even more appreciation for this fine book. The subject matter isn't airy and light. Characters who you initially like do some pretty terrible things. The world Jonas lives in, while at first very appealing, turns out to be a whited sepulcher (to steal from J. Conrad/The Bible). These are important themes for a child to learn, especially for one coming of age. Appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes evil is packaged in such a way as to make it appealing. Lies can look like truth, and people in positions of authority are not always right.
Some parents and educators (to use the term loosely), decry the message it sends, saying kids who read The Giver will think adults can't be trusted, and will be disobedient. Excuse me, but if they do, it's because they're healthy adolescents. Far be it for Lowry to encourage kids to think for themselves, but at least she gives them something of substance to mull over. And she doesn't lie to them, either. Pain hurts. War often results when people have choices. Jonas' community does have its upsides. It doesn't have pain or war, or even sadness. But it doesn't have love or choices either. (Of course I'm simplifying, and the most satisfying part of the book is not social commentary, but the wonderful characters.) With her straightforward prose, Lowery shows just what kind of world we live in today...where a future like Jonas' is very possible.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books Ive EVER read (and ive read a lot)
Review: I first read this book when i was in 5th grade. Im a lot more mature than other kids were at that age so for recommendations, it depends. Im sure its ok for 8th graders and up. Totally good book. I loved it! I have read it probably 50 times, but havent lately. ill have to read it again to see what all the controversy is about. i didnt think anything was wrong with it. the end left me hanging, but i like that. it was good.
Rating:
Summary: Eternal Gift
Review: I first read this book when I was ten years old and it gave me a whole new world to think about. As I reread it, I'm stunned by the even deeper levels that come across. It's a disquieting, but provoking read. This isn't recommended for general bedtime reading, but it is a wonderful book to share with your child.
Rating:
Summary: shockingly good
Review: I first read this book when I was younger, yet it amazes me how well the ideas and concepts still hold up today. Extremely thought provoking. I didn't realize it back then, but this book really is on par with such classics as Code of the Lifemaker, Frankenstein, or War and Peace. This kind of literature allows us to step back and examine ourselves as living beings. "The giver" not a hard read, but it is alot deeper then most of the book even that "know everything" adults. Just because a someone like a child is naive and inquisitive about the world around them doesn't mean they don't have good reason to be.
Rating:
Summary: I've read it countless times and still love it
Review: I first read this in the sixth grade with my class. Some of the underlying meaning was difficult to understand at first, but now I still can find more that wasn't pointed out before. It was so wondrous to think of a world with no color and feeling, I wouldn't want it, but I wonder what it would be like? This is a classic book that should be required for every middle-schooler.
Rating:
Summary: What a great book!
Review: I first read yhis book when I was ten and found it very easy reading. This book simply turned my life around and is one of my favorites. What would have given the author this idea?
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have read in years!
Review: I first stated to read this book because my school requierd me to.But once I started I could not put it down.Every chapter has somthing new and suprising in it.It was such a touching book that makes you relize even though are world may be some what of a mess at least we still have freedom and feelings. Imagine if you had no emotions and could not expereance simple joys such as love,snow,sunshine,individuallaty,dreams(goals) pain, fear or lonlieness.A boy Jonas lives in a eutopia where every thing is equal and "perfect"allthough it is relly not.He is sellected to be the reciver of all the memories of the past the good and the bad.All of a sudden the once verry strickt rules of his comuity no longer apply to him and he relizes what he has been missing out on.After a year of training Jonas is filled with almost all of the memories you and me know of and can no longer relate to his family and friends who have no recalection of any memories or almost any emotions.This book is one of my all time favorates and is recemmended to every body.
|
