The Giver

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993.

The Giver takes place in a dystopian society, the geographical location and time period remaining a mystery throughout the novel. Jonas, a “Twelve”, presumably meaning he’s twelve-years-old, anxiously awaits the Ceremony, at which he receives his “assignment”, or job.  He is the last one to get his assignment and finds that he has been selected to be The Receiver, the highest honor in his community.  However, as he begins his training, he realizes his honorable position comes with a price: physical pain, loneliness, and disillusionment. Jonas begins to see that the “sameness” and sheltering of his community denies him choices and the ability to live a free life.  He struggles to find a way to save himself, the few people he truly loves, and hopefully the community.

Although a white author wrote this novel, I think it could be taught in a multicultural classroom.  The content and setting is so far from any culture or background existing, that all students would be intrigued and interested in solving the mystery of the workings of this dystopian society. While the protagonist is a male, both boys and girls could enjoy this novel, because the coming-of-age story and problems he has to deal with are gender neutral. Because there are so many mysterious twists in the plot, this book is great for practicing the skill of predicting. The plot of the story could be enjoyable for almost any age (I know I loved it, and I’m 20!), and the sentence structure and vocabulary is simple enough for lower-middle school grades. I think this could be a great choice for a 6^th or 7^th grade multicultural classroom!