The Giver by Lois Lowry

So as you can all see by the title this week I am doing a review on the Giver! Yes, I am aware that this book is becoming a movie and that is precisely why I am writing a review on it despite the fact that I read it so long ago. 
For many people this is a book that they read when they were younger or had read to them. But it is one of those stories that has so many deeper meanings that children don't always get when they read it the first time. For me it took many years for me to think back to the story I had heard in Grade 5 and think about what the meaning of it was.
But this book was so good that over the years I managed to keep it in my mind at all times even be able to remember many of the details about it more than ten years later.

Jonas lives in a society where everything is thought to be perfect. Rules are regulated swiftly and everything in life is governed by the people who are higher up. Marriages are decided for you, your job is decided for you, and who you become is designed to have the perfect society. If you don't follow these rules you are released.
When Jonas turns 12 it is time for him to become an adult and start to work towards his future. But unlike Jonas' friends he is not given a simple job, in fact at first he seems to have been given no job at all, which is very odd for their society. But the fact is that Jonas has been chosen to be the new Receiver for their town, even if he has no idea what that means.
Jonas soon meets the Giver, an elderly man who was once where he was and now is the absolute knowledge of all things beyond their community. Because the Giver is getting old he must depart his memories into Jonas, who is the Receiver of memories.
At first Jonas is thrilled but confused, as he doesn't know what there is that could be so special outside of his community. As he goes along he takes the memories from the Giver gaining new strengths and knowledge about what is beyond the city walls.
He learns happy things like what it means to laugh, to be in love where pills do not keep you from doing so, to see colour (something no one can see where he is from) and to enjoy the little things in life. But he also sees torture, sorrow, and death, something that is foreign to him as he does not understand when a life is taken.
As the horrible memories of pain begin to overshadow the happy ones he begins to notice the wrong doings in his community and what it really means to be 'released'. With time running out before he is to become the new Keeper of memories he needs to make a decision about what he really wants to do with his life.
And a new born baby with similar traits may be the key to solving all of his problems.

This is a great book because it not only points out all of the problems in a government, but also points out what it means to have knowledge and what we would be without it. In this strange world where memories can be given away and no one can see colour what does it really mean to be alive?
These questions are what makes the book so good! This is something that you should read for sure no matter what age group you are.
I would give this book a FOUR out of FIVE star rating!
See you all next week!
- K
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