Imagine a world in which all of your choices were made for you, from your daily wardrobe to your family members to your career to your spouse. Think of a world in which you were entirely safe, where you were permitted to take no risks, and where physical pain could be erased with a single dose of medicine. Picture dwelling in a whitewashed world where everyone lives and thinks in exactly the same way, and questioning the rules leads to public chastisement and even "Release" from the community.

Jonas, star of Lois Lowry's The Giver, lives in just such a community. For 12 years, he has dwelt within its borders, attending school, mingling with friends and abiding by the strict rules that make his town the peaceful place it always is. Like all of his classmates, Jonas is looking forward to the December Ceremony when he will receive his "Assignment." This will be his career, which could be anything from Laborer to Doctor to Road Crew Maintainer. To his shock, Jonas learns he will be the new Receiver. The position comes with great honor, but even greater secrecy. Jonas receives a list of rules that will govern his training period, which allow him to do two things which are strictly prohibited in his community: to ask questions of anyone and to lie. Disconcerted, Jonas begins his training with The Giver, an elder who sags under the weight of his responsibilities. The Giver explains Jonas' new responsibilites: he must carry all the memories of the world - from sunshine, to sledding, to war, to starvation - so that his community will be free to live their peaceful, doubtless lives. In essence, he will feel all their emotions for them. As The Giver transfers his memories into his new apprentice's being, Jonas' dull world explodes into a dazzling array of color, sensation and emotion. Some of the memories Jonas receives are terrifying - war, loneliness, abandonment - but others are so powerful - love, family, warmth - that he realizes how empty his real life is. Now that he is able to ask questions freely, Jonas finds himself questioning the life he has been leading - why is he not allowed to have choices? Why can't families have more than the 2 children allowed by the Elders? And what does it really mean when someone is "Released" from the community?

As Jonas ingests this new knowledge, he knows that he can never again be satisfied with his dull, flavorless life. Together, he and The Giver hatch a plan to open the peoples' eyes. When their plans go horribly awry, Jonas suddenly finds himself on a terrifying journey to find "Elsewhere," a place that may or may not exist. Without the promised memories of courage to bind him up, Jonas must rely on his own wits and bravery to save himself, his future and the one person he truly loves.

That's the story in a nutshell, but this book isn't really about the main story. As one reviewer put it, "The simplicity and directness of Lowry's writing force readers to grapple with their own thoughts" (Booklist, Starred Review). Lowry's story is so unadorned that it provides the perfect canvas for infinte thoughts, opinions and analyses. Lowry, herself, says,

...The Giver is many things to many different people. People
bring to it their own complicated beliefs and hopes and dreams and fears and all
that.

At the very least, it's a story about what it means to be human. To me, its message is that without choices, experience, risk and passion, we are not fully human.

I don't know if Lowry meant for the book to have any religious applications, but to me The Giver symbolizes Jesus Christ, at least to some degree. When he accepts memories for other people, he swallows some of their pain, leaving them comforted. Their pain still exists, but only dimly. This is what Christ does for us. Our suffering weighed on Christ (as it does on The Giver), as evidenced by his tortured cry, "O my Father...let this cup pass from me" (Matthew 26:39, KJV) in Gethsamane, but He knew His duty and thus carried our burdens for us. Like Christ, The Giver desires that all men have their agency so they can learn wisdom through their choices. And like Jesus, The Giver knows he must help his people through the pain that knowledge and agency can bring. Like Lowry said, we bring our own convictions to the book and this is the interpretation to which I kept returning.

The one issue I had with this book is the very ambiguous ending. I'm a reading simpleton, who loves endings which neatly wrap up all of the story's loose ends. Paradoxically, I hate predictable endings. Anyway, The Giver ends in a way that leaves it VERY open to interpretation. Lowry calls it an "optimistic ending," but insists that the true ending exists only in the mind of the reader. As aggravating as that is for a neat-endings-junkie, it's also a sign of a truly great novel - one that makes you think long after you've closed the book.

Grade: A+

I love memes about books and reading. I stole this one from Becky, who got it from Dewey:

1.) Do you remember learning to read? How old were you? Nope, I really don't remember learning to read. My mom said I taught myself how before I started kindergarten, so we'll just have to take her word on that.

2.) What do you find most challenging to read? Anything technical, scientific or math-related. Boooring!

3.) What are your library habits? I head to the library about 3 times a month. I'm really bad at renewing books on time, so I'm often there to pay overdue fines. In spite of this, I still feel compelled to check out a whole stack of books each time I visit. Why is that? I think it stems from my childhood (doesn't everything?). As a kid, I used to walk down to our town library, load up on books and hike back home. My route wasn't quite a mile long, but it seemed like a major expedition. So, I toted home as many books as I could carry to avoid having to make the long walk to the library. Plus, I love the sense of anticipation I get from seeing a whole pile of books I have yet to read.

4. Have your library habits changed since you were a kid? Yes and no. I've always loved libraries and visited them often. As a kid, I spent more time reading in the library than I do now. And, of course, I no longer have to walk to the library, which is a very nice change!

5. How has blogging changed your reading life? Well, I started this blog to track what I read and record my opinions for myself and anyone else who happened to stop by. At that time, I had never heard of reading challenges - now, I'm an addict. They have really broadened my horizons by making me read things I otherwise wouldn't. Joining the book blogging community also exposed me to other people's book blogs, from which I get all kinds of ideas and recommendations.

6. What percentage of your books do you get from (a) new bookstores, (b) secondhand bookstores, (c) the library, (d) online exchange sites, (e) online retailers, and (f) other?

(a) 40%
(b) 0% - I rarely go to secondhand shops
(c) 40%
(d) 0 % - I've heard lots about these, but have never tried them
(e) 10% - I love me some Amazon
(f) 10% - from retailers (like Costco) who aren't officially bookstores, review copies and gifts

7. How often do you read a book and not review it on your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about it? I pretty much review every book I read.

8. What are your pet peeves about ways people abuse books? I hate it when people write in books. It just drives me nuts to read someone else's notes in a library book. I also hate dogearing (just get a bookmark, people!).

9. Do you ever read for pleasure at work? Well, I'm a stay-at-home Mom, so yeah, I read at home all the time. Do I ever shirk my responsibilities in favor of reading? No, never (hee hee)!

10. When you give people books as gifts, hwo do you decide what to give them? Oddly, I don't buy a lot of books as gifts. I guess because I feel like books are such personal things. When I do purchase them as gifts, I take into account the person's favorite authors, subjects, and genre of books. If I'm buying a gift for a booklover, I'm much more likely to purchase a gift card so that they can select their own books.

The only thing better than getting a big check in the mail is getting free books! Thanks, everybody, for sending these fun titles my way. I can't wait to read and review them.

The top two, Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright and Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, came from the former's publicist at Deseret Book. I won American Gods by Neil Gaiman from Chris. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was a win from Katrina. Thanks, again!