Spaghetti Book Club - Book Reviews by Kids for Kids

The Giver is a book about a boy named Jonas, who lives in a time in the future. He lives in a world of perfection and sameness. There are many strict rules that keep everyone perfect and that are very strict. For example: you must not interrupt, you must not lie (if you say that you are starving when you really are hungry, you will be punished), and you must not touch anyone outside of your home. You do not get to choose your spouse or your job. Your children are assigned to you. In this book, Jonas is an Eleven and he is very nervous for the Ceremony of Twelve during which he will receive his assignment, or job that he must dutifully fulfill for the rest of his life. During the ceremony, he is skipped over and is frantic that he is not worthy of an assignment. Soon he realizes that he has been chosen for a very special assignment, a very important assignment that will lead him to one place - Elsewhere.

I really enjoyed this book because it taught me that there is a lot more that I don't know about and there is a lot to change. Also, I thought that it taught me that I should appreciate what I'm like because in this book, no one had unique qualities or stood out from everyone else. This was a very exciting book to read because it was always surprising me with new things that made me put the book down and stop to take a breath. The book made me think "why?" or "how?" In this book one thing can change your whole perspective of a character or an event. During this book, I think that two characters changed. I think that Jonas changed because he learned more about the past and how cruel his world really was. Also, I think the Giver changed because he learned that with determination and hard work, one person could change the world.

I think that Lois Lowry is an amazing author with amazing ideas. I don't think it's how she writes; I think it's just what she writes. When she writes, it's like slowly you're building the place in your mind and the characters are talking to you. When she creates a character, you begin to make a bond with it, and you feel like you've known him/her forever and you can feel what they are feeling. When I started the book, I knew that I would enjoy it. Unlike many other authors, Lois Lowry doesn't make any parts of her books boring. Never will she make you feel like you really want to get past a certain and move on to the next. I admire her and I will always wonder how she can put so much description and thought into a 180 page book.

I recommend this book to fourth graders and older who understand that that this book contains mature subject matter and plots and realize that the subject matter will cause you to think about this book for a long time, but to me that's a good thing.