Book Review - THE GIVER by Lois Lowry

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lowry, Lois. 1993. THE GIVER. New York, NY: Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0440219078


2. PLOT SUMMARY
Set in the future, THE GIVER follows a boy named Jonas as he enters his twelth year of life in a utopian society. In order to eliminate hard times and dissention, individuality is replaced with sameness. There is no war, no pain, no memory, no fear, and no hope.

Upon their twelth year of life, each child is assigned a role in the society. Jonas has been designated as the Receiver of Memory to be trained by the Giver. As part of that training, Jonas begins to receive all of the memories before the time of sameness. Throughout this painful and emotionally draining process, Jonas begins to realized how empty and shallow his "perfect" society is.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
It is a question that we wrestle with from generation to generation: how can we create the perfect society? Wouldn't it be great to have no war, no sickness, no crime, and no fear?

Lois Lowry gives us a glimpse of her perspective on this. The topic here is weighty and, initially, difficult to wade through. Some of the material is fairly mature and this book has made a few banned book lists. In an elementary school, I know some of the parents of 4th and 5th graders would want to discuss why a book in their library talks about "stirrings".

Reading what Jonas goes through when he receives some of the memories is painful. It is a vivid reminder of the realities of this life. However, there are memories that he experiences that make us realize why "sameness" does not work: no love, no choices, no feelings, no passion. It makes one realize that we cannot have all the good of this world without having some of the bad.

In my humble opinion, the first few chapters of any fantasy book are a bit confusing. There are new worlds to navigate and unfamiliar societal structures that force the reader to really focus. About a third of the way through, after characters have been introduced and we get a handle on the society, this book really starts to flow. More and more details emerge regarding the not-so-perfect perfect society.

Lowry's inclusion of "release" is also bound to set off alarms. Release is the utopian society's form of euthenzia. The old, the punished, and excess children are targeted. Release is conducted secretly, but with no feelings present in the society, it is looked upon as a joyful journey, not a death.

Jonas' struggle with feelings and memories is fresh. We forget the cold of snow or the brilliance of color or the pain of our first cut. Jonas is a baby foraging in a new world and we get to experience some of that ourselves.

The ending is a bit ambiguous. Jonas rescues a baby designated for release and they escape out of the utopia. The reader is led to believe that they survive, but that is left up to the imagination. Fortuantely, there is a sequel that confirms this.

I would not recommend this to many at the elementary level. This book is geared toward a more mature young adult reader. Middle school and high school would be the place for this book.

Several literary points are present here:
1. There is a sense of realism, in that this book could happen.
2. This is a "problem" novel, in that the problems that Jonah wrestles with strike a chord in the mind and heart of the reader.
3. There is a sense of controvery, especially with the depiction of euthensia and stirrings toward sex.
4. The readership is definitely for higher-aged elementary children or middle/high school children.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
* Starred review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time."

* Starred review from PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY: "Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal, this thought-provoking novel centers on a 12-year-old boy's gradual disillusionment with an outwardly utopian futuristic society; in a starred review, PW said, 'Lowry is once again in top form... unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers'."

5. CONNECTIONS
*Perhaps a good tie-in to something middle and high school children are well aware of is the attempt of Hitler to create a utopian society. Students should do a bit of research and do a compare/contrast of Hitler's ideals and the ideals set aside by the Elder's in Jonas' society.

*A good book-link is BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley. Although a controversial book, this makes one think. Lowry included many of the same things in her book that Huxley did (eliminating poverty and war, for instance), but went the other way as far as societal impacts. What was the difference in Huxley's society as opposed to Lowry's?


Huxley, Aldous. 1977. BRAVE NEW WORLD. Flamingo; New Ed edition. ISBN 0586044345

Book Review - THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Patron, Susan. 2006. THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY. Ill. by Matt Phelan. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 1416901949

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Lucky is a ten year old girl who lives in the small town of Hard Pan, California (population 43). Living with her guardian (her father's first wife, Brigitte), Lucky has already endured the death of her mother and the absence of her father who wants nothing to do with her.

Lucky's part-time job is to clean up after the various self-help groups that meet nearby. She cleans up cigarette butts for the AA meetings, beer bottles for the Gamblers Anonymous, etc. But she picks up something else along the way...a knowledge that she needs a higher power to find happiness.

Lucky is convinced that Bridgett misses her life in France and Lucky is to blame. She runs away in a dust storm, being careful to bring along her survival-kit backpack. In doing so, she finds the true depth of her relationship with Bridgett and finally comes to grips with the loss of her mother.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
What we quickly come to realize is that Lucky is not lucky after all. In just ten short years, she has suffered great loss and yet still manages to be a typical kid.

We are introduced to great characters like her friend Lincoln who is incredibly talented at knot tying and has a presidential name that may make him Executive in Chief one day. We also meet Miles whose diet consists solely of cookies and whose favorite book is Are You My Mother? (Coincidence? I think not.) And who can forget the great name of her dog, HMS Beagle? There is great depth of character here and we quickly get involved with Miles and Lincoln and even Bridgett.

Patron delivers her story with witty reparte and allows us to enter into the mind of a 5th grader...perish the thought. We also get quite a bleak view of the living conditions of the people in Hard Pan. Yet Lucky and her crew manage to rise above.

Although we see lots of hard times and people down on their luck, this is a story of hope and we begin to see that Lucky is just that after all; lucky.

This has all of the characteristics of contemporary realistic fiction.
1. This book tells a story that never happened but could happen.
2. It is set in present time (contemporary).
3. It could really happen (realistic).
4. But it is still created by the author (fiction).
5. There is controvery (use of the word "scrotum" has caused it to be on several banned book lists) and "problems" (effects of death on children, insight into self-help groups, living with a single parent, etc.).

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
* Starred review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "This character-driven novel has an unusually complicated backstory, and a fair amount of exposition. Yet, its quirky cast and local color help to balance this fact, and the desert setting is fascinating. Lucky's tendency to jump to conclusions is frustrating, but her struggle to come to terms with her mother's death and with her new life ring true."

* Starred review from BOOKLIST: "Patron's plotting is as tight as her characters are endearing. Lucky is a true heroine, especially because she's not perfect: she does some cowardly things, but she takes pains to put them to rights."

5. CONNECTIONS
*Have kids discuss Lucky's survival kit backpack. What sort of things would you keep in your own survival kit backpack and what would they be used for?

*Lucky has been through some tough times in her life. Write a brief paragraph on why the author named her main character "Lucky".

Book Review - MONSTER by Walter Dean Myers

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Myers, Walter Dean. 1999. MONSTER. New York, NY: Harper Collins. ISBN 0060280778

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Steve Harmon is in jail, on trial for supposedly participating in a store robbery gone wrong. Accused of being a look-out in the robbery-turned murder, Steve faces 25 years to life.

Writing from the protagonist's point of view, Myers allows us to peek inside the mind of a 16 year old who grows up overnight. The book alternates between Steve's diary and scenes from Steve's "movie" he would make about his life in the courtroom and in the prision cell.

Is Steve a monster? The jury decides...as does the reader.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

From the first sentence, I was hooked: "The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help."

This book is quite readable. Although it is a seemingly big book, the writing is such that chapters fly by. Like any book, I had to get into it before I got the hang of it.

I found it interesting that Myers chose two points of view...just as there are two sides to any story. The diary writings were very personal and the reader gets more than enough information about Steve and his fears of being in jail, being on trial, and letting his family down. We also get too real insight into prison behavior.

The "film" portions of the book allowed a bit of distance between Steve and the situation he was in. The only drawback I saw in this was that I got lost a few times remembering who was who and what lawyer stood on what side. I had to keep a few notes handy...not my favorite thing to do while reading.

I thought the ending was abrupt. Before I knew it, the book was over and Steve's fate decided.

Because of the graphic material, this book does not belong in the elementary library. I would even hesitate to have middle schoolers read this. Definitely a mature read.

This has all of the characteristics of contemporary realistic fiction.
1. This book tells a story that never happened but could happen.
2. It is set in present time (contemporary).
3. It could really happen (realistic).
4. But it is still created by the author (fiction).
5. There is controvery (sexual scenes alluded to) and "problems" (effects of violence and possible jail time).


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
* Starred review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: "The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve's terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers's point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a 'positive moral decision' was not made."

* Starred review from BOOKLIST: "Script and journal together create a fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve's journal that will endure in readers' memories."

5. CONNECTIONS
*Propose this proposition for a class discussion: what would you do if you were put in jail prior to a trial. How would you face your family and friends? How would you deal with life inside a cell?

*You are being given a video camera to record your life. What would your life look like to others? What type of scenes would you include? Knowing that your friends would see the tape, what scenes would you delete?