Style by the Book: The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Find it at Wheelock: Floor 2M, J L95g Image may be NSFW.
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Lois Lowry’s The Giver tells the story of Jonas, a young boy who lives in a seemingly perfect society. There is no violence, poverty, pollution or social inequality. Upon every citizen’s twelfth birthday, they receive a career assignment based on their skills and aptitude. Citizens are content with their roles, and carry out their work dutifully.

We join Jonas on the eve of his twelfth birthday and impending career assignment, and what follows will slowly reveal the sacrifices underlying the community’s utopia. Jonas has been chosen to receive knowledge that all but one of his fellow citizens do not possess, and the more he learns about what life was once like– and may still be like elsewhere– the more he comes to doubt the community’s perfection.

The picture above represents Jonas’s eventual break with convention. From drab sameness to a strange apple to a daring sled ride, The Giver is a fascinating story and a young-adult literature classic. Find it, along with its equally wonderful sequels (Gathering Blue, The Messenger and eventually Boy, the newest) on Floor 2M of the Wheelock Library.