Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry- what a fascinating woman!

   She was born in Hawaii 81 years ago and has written 45 children's books.  Among the many awards that she has won are two Newbery Medals.  One for "Number the Stars" in 1990 and one for "The Giver" in 1994.

   
  "The Giver" caught my attention in 2006, when I was enjoying a book retreat with "Bookwomen" in Arizona.  I have not been able to forget this book and decided to include it in our library book club choices this year. That resulted in a marvellous discussion this past Friday.  Youth fiction can be fascinating for adults and should be used by book clubs.

   "The Giver" has been very controversial.  It has brought both praise and criticism.  Some schools have included it in their curriculum, while other schools have banned the book.  It was made into a movie in 2014 with Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, among other actors.  I chose not to watch the movie because the book is seared into my memory.

  "The Giver" appears to be utopian fiction in the beginning because the community has no disease, crime, poverty, starvation, not even bad weather!  But when you realize that 'choice' is not a part of this community, and 'love' is unknown, you realize that the story is really dystopian.  Without choice, there are not bad choices.  But would you want to live without choice?  And without love and other strong emotions, life has no meaning.  This is a fascinating book that has minimal description and leaves many questions.  Great for discussion!

   Actually, "The Giver" is the first of "The Giver Quartet"- a series of four novels.  After being so fascinated with the first book, I quickly read the second "Gathering Blue", and then the third "Messenger".  But I saw no connection to "The Giver", although they were interesting enough.

  BUT, I just finished reading the final book "Son" that was published 19 years after "The Giver".  Wow!  It is amazing!  It does follow characters from "The Giver".  And it is a roller coaster ride!  I loved it!  And was delighted with the breath-taking ending for the series.