The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry

After reading Number the Stars I could not wait to get my hands on another Lois Lowry book.  To many of my classmates chagrin, I had never read The Giver in grade school.  After finding out this was one of Lowry's best books, I quickly went to library to check it out.  After I began reading, I was instantly transferred to a Utopian society in the future.  The reader follows around the main character Jonas.  In his home town there is no crime, students respect their elders, the old are taken care of by the young, and family units are strong.  Suffering, starvation, and pain do not exist in this world.  It is perfect. 

At age twelve, each child is placed in their future adult role.  When it comes time for Jonas to learn about his new role, he is mysteriously skipped over.  It is not polite to stare, but Jonas knows everyone is looking at him and wondering why he was skipped over.  But, at the end of the ceremony Jonas is bestowed with the greatest honor in the community, he will be the next Receiver of Memory. 

As the Receiver of Memory, Jonas will have all of the world's memories transferred to him by the last Receiver of Memory, who is now known as the Giver.  This is a very confusing time for Jonas.  He comes to understand that the reason he lives in a Utopian society was because of Sameness.  Sameness is taking away all pains such as suffering, but also all joys such as love.  Everything in his world is static and gray.  After learning more and more about Sameness, Jonas is faced with a difficult decision; does he keep things the way they are and let his friends and family continue living in an ignorant bliss or does he share his new found memories with them and thrust his friends and family into a world of joy and sorrow. 

Even though I have been very busy, I was able to quickly finish this book because I could not put it down.  As the book progressed I became more and more enthralled in the plot line.  The action and stress level continued to climb until the last pages.  The only part that disappointed me was the end.  This book ended very abruptly.  I am sure this adds a great literary effect, but I like books to have clean endings.  With that said, I would still highly recommend this book. 

There are many concepts in this book that are very complicated and I was shocked at some of the content of the book.  Even though I really liked this book for these two reasons, I was surprised that it won a Newbery Award.  I am not sure if it is truly appropriate for children.  It is important that teachers read and think about this book before they implementing it in their classrooms. 

Number The Stars

Number The Stars by Lois Lowry is one of the most inspiring and touching books I have ever read.  This book is set in Denmark during the Holocaust.  The main character Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen were racing down the road when they are stopped by Nazi soldiers.  This was nothing new for these young ladies because the soldiers have been in Denmark for a long time.  When these two girls reported the event to their parents the girls noticed their parents became very worried.  Within the next chapters the reader finds out the Nazi are planning to relocate all the Jews of Denmark.  Annemarie does not fully understand what this means, but she does know her best friend Ellen is Jewish and in trouble.  Because the people of Denmark were warned about the relocation, they were able to hide many of the Jewish people. 

            The main plot of this story is to get Ellen and her family safely to Sweden, a neutral country.  In order to do this Annemarie and her family must hide their friends as they travel to the shores of Denmark, which is across from Sweden.  Though there were many close calls along the way the Johansen’s were able to safely get the Rosen’s to the shores of Denmark.  The hardest and most dangerous part of the journey was about to began.  Young Annemarie had an important decision to make; was she willing to die for her friends?  Could she be brave in the face of danger? 

            This powerful story shows how two families were thrust in a horrible situations.  How, in spite of danger and certain death, these families stuck together for the betterment of humanity.  And, in spite of all the odds, a young girl finds bravery.  This books is full of intrigue, which keeps the reader excited about reading.  There are many parts of the book where I found myself holding my breath because I was scared of what would happen next.

            One of the most frustrating things about reading historical fiction is knowing where the history stops and fiction starts.  Lois Lowry was kind enough to add a closing section of the book that explains which parts are historically accurate and which parts are from her imagination.  It was amazing to see how much of this story was based on fact.  Another amazing thing Lois Lowry did was to include the people that inspired her characters.  There are not many books I would say this for, but this is a must read book for everyone.  One cannot read this book and not be inspired by these characters.  I have a new found respect for all the heroes and victims of the Holocaust.