Set in the future, a boy suspects that the emotionless, crime free, seemingly perfect world in which he lives may not be as utopian as it appears. Several interesting themes develop, including "the way we wish life to be may not be the best way after all."

Suggested Links:

What is utopia?

Before reading The Giver, it is necessary to understand the meaning of utopia. This page explains it best.

SparkNotes: The Giver

SparkNotes is THE place to go for chapter summaries and analyses of various children's literature books. This page gives you everything you need to about Lois Lowry's science fiction classic. No cheating! You are still required to read the ENTIRE novel!

Learning About Lois Lowry

You will find a brief biography of the author and reviews of various stories she has written here.

Lois Lowry Web Site

This is a recent addition to the Internet. Lois Lowry has created this interesting web site with summaries of all the stories in her collection. You can even e-mail her with questions!

Pleasantville

Unfortunately, no film based on The Giver exists, although the idea of creating one is currently being discussed. One film very similar in theme is Pleasantville. Here is Roger Ebert's review of that film.

 

© Copyright 2008 A.J. Kimmel