“Jonas has been selected to be our next Receiver of Memory.”
The Giver is book one in the quartet series. Jonas has lived in the community all his life, it is the only way of life he knows. Children are born, then raised for the first year of their lives in the Nurturing Centre. Each year on the same day the entire community attend a ceremony, the newchildren are named and assigned to a family unit. Then there are ceremonies for the children for the twos, threes, fours all the way up to twelves - every child shares this same ‘birthday’. The twelves have a special ceremony where they are given their life assignments. From there they begin the career they will fulfil within the community. If they want to, they can apply to be issued a spouse, married couples can then apply to have children assigned. Family units are only assigned one female and one male, occasionally if a child is lost they may be issued with a replacement child. When they grow old they move to the house of old. If people fail to follow the rules in The Rule Book, or fail to fit in, they are sent released, never to return to the community again.
Jonas is an Eleven, and although he doesn't yet know it, he can see “beyond”. When he attends the Ceremony of the twelve and isn't given an assignment Jonas is devastated. Then the community is told that Jonas has been chosen to be the next Receiver of Memory. Jonas faces a long and harrowing journey as he meets the Giver and starts to receive memories.
A fantastic book for older children/teens that will make them think about the society they live in and the things they take for granted every day. A dystopian tale set in a strange community where animals like bears are imaginary things and things like rain and war mean have no meaning. A good book to get children thinking about control, would we be better off if we were controlled and our lives planned for us. It will also make them think about the troubles we carry in society and history and if society would be better if we hid them away and forgot they happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment