In Jonas' world, there is no pain, no conflict, no poverty or injustice. Everything, including the work you will do for the rest of your life, is carefully planned out and controlled. On his twelfth birthday, Jonas, along with all the other twelve-year-olds, is assigned his life role in the community by the Elders: apprentice to the Giver. It's not what he expected. He's never even heard of the Giver, but as he learns under this mysterious man who keeps the history, he begins to receive memories of another place and time, and his perceptions of his perfect world start to radically alter. This gripping tale, set in a not-so-distant-future time, raises provactive issues for discussion and has a dramatic ending that will leave readers clamoring to offer their own interpretations of events. (Ages 10-14)

1994 Newbery Medal Winner

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Lois Lowry has written three companion novels to The Giver, including Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.