Saturday, October 06, 2012
Celebrate the Freedom to Read. . . THE GIVER
Kay celebrates THE GIVER by Lois Lowry
When The Giver came out in 1993 and won a Newbery
Medal in 1994, I was anxious to read it because I had met Lois Lowry in 1987 at
a Young Author’s Symposium in Little
Rock , AR
When I read The Giver, after it won the Newbery Medal,
I wasn’t prepared for such a theme: a future that is not a dystopian society
but a wonderful place where everything has its place and every person has a job
to do that is assigned when they are twelve. We find out more when the
main character becomes twelve and he is introduced to the true workings of the
place and the “releasing” that takes place almost every day. When I read
this book in 1995 I had nightmares of Joan Baez singing “I Shall Be Released”
over and over.
This book has been challenged because some children may become
disturbed at the life and death issues, including “releasing.” Now, whenever students come in to checkout this book, I advise the parents to read
the book along with them. It is definitely one for discussion, either for
the plot or whether it should be challenged.
Kay Hommedieu, Randolph Library
Labels: Banned Books Week
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