Book Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.

“Tell me about the celebration.”
“Well, there was the telling of his life. That is always first. Then the toast. We all raised our glasses and cheered. We chanted the anthem. He made a lovely good-bye speech. And several of us made little speeches wishing him well. I didn’t, though. I’ve never been fond of public speaking.
“He was thrilled. You should have seen the look on his face when they let him go.”
Jonas slowed the strokes of his hand on her back thoughtfully. “Larissa,” he asked, “what happens when they make the actual release? Where exactly did Roberto go?”
She lifted her bare wet shoulders in a small shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t think anybody does, except the committee. He just bowed to all of us and then walked, like they all do, through the special door in the Releasing Room. But you should have seen his look. Pure happiness, I’d call it.”
Jonas grinned. “I wish I’d been there to see it.”

Jonas lives in a dystopia world where everything is perfect. No sickness. No death. No poverty. Nothing but cheerfulness, polite manners, and...mysterious disappearances.

But Jonas has been selected as a Receiver, the highest honor given in their community. But what he must "receive" is more horrifying than anything he could have ever imagined.

I loved it. What else can be said about it? Everyone loves this novel. My husband, who hates to read more than anything in the world, loved this book. It's outstanding. I wish they would get rid of that horrible cover with the old man. That cover kept me from reading this novel for 22 years. If you can just get a kid to ignore the front cover and read a single page inside, they will be hooked. Plus, it can be a boy book. (Are you kidding me, a Newbery winner that boys will actually read???)

If you haven't read this book, you are depriving yourself. Drop whatever you are reading and run, don't walk, to the nearest bookstore to pick it up.