The Giver by: Lois Lowry

The Giver was a great book, absolutely awesome. The story of the boy who lives in a seemingly perfect world but then is seemingly flipped upside down when he is given his assignment which consists of receiving all the communities memory from the man they call the Giver. The book does an incredible job making the reader think deep about life in general and all of the things we believe in. It is interesting that the book was so entertaining for me as a college student and really made me think, and that it can have the same effect on a younger student. The book gives an interesting outlook on things like love, pain, and relationships. The real moral of the story you would think would be more directed at older students perhaps in high school, students ready to take on the real world and need to think about the things discussed in the book. But I think that this would be a great book to read aloud or have young children read because of it's great moral value. I do not think the book would be seen as controversial unless people saw it as too advanced for young children to read and try to comprehend. The great task of Johna and the Giver to reveal these great emotions and truths to actual existence is a daunting one, but it does show children readers that they can do anything they want in life and I think would give inspiration to young children to do things with their lives because of what they want and not to conform to society's wants. The deep meaning of the lessons talked about in The Giver would be fantastic things to talk about as a class or have students write about their own ideas and get them thinking about their future. I loved this book and everything it has to offer educationally, teachable moments is a big part of this book and I think it is very useful to talk about the things discussed in the book with young children.