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The Giver by Lois Lowry This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine.

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After reading The Giver, I was left confused and disappointed. It seemed as if it would be interesting, but you can't judge a book by its cover. The contents were dull and predictable. Quite honestly, I wouldn't recommend it to any reader seeking a fine piece of literature. It just doesn't suffice.

The Giver is about a young boy named Jonas. He resides in a futuristic society in which each citizen is assigned a job, a spouse, and children. The children are born to mothers who will never get to see them. Trying not to give anymore away, I will only say that Jonas is assigned an important job and is challenged with the release of an innocent child. Jonas is left with the option of leaving his home, job, and family to save the child, or facing the harsh reality of his community and job, and enduring the release of the child.

This book was dreadful. I became more and more dissatisfied with each page. It was a waste of time and hardly made sense. I'll admit, there were a few interesting lines, but far too few to continue reading after the first chapter. Although I finished it, I regret doing so. It was, by far, the worst book I've ever picked up. It proved to be mediocre, no better than what the average person could conceive. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.





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Harrypotter202abc This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Dec. 18, 2010 at 9:45 pm:

I loved this book! 

I read it for English class in 7th grade and understood it fine!

I think it not only is a fantastic story line, but depicts a metaphor of sameness with an overly controlling government.

 
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nycsonyaThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Dec. 11, 2010 at 8:13 am:
I understand your point, but I strongly disagree. I was so moved by this book. The way it flowed, and the gift that Lois Lowry has that keeps us on the edge of our seats made this book fantastic. There was not a boring moment.
 
TheWordSmith replied...
Dec. 11, 2010 at 4:24 pm :
I agree with you completely, nycsonya. It is rare to find an author with such talent as Lois Lowry.
 
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Medina D. said...
Dec. 7, 2010 at 1:36 pm:

Just recently i had to read this book for English class, and i LIKED it. ALOT. Alot of kids in my class did.

It's not confusing at all.

It takes place in the future, where humans decided to go into sameness (meaning they tried to demolish all differences). Therefore, they created communities, where people can only see black & white, have no feelings, and live a very organized lifestyle with hardly any of the independence we have today. To accomplish this, people have to take... (more »)

 
royaldancer replied...
Dec. 8, 2010 at 8:30 pm :
i agree with you (Medina D.) i read this book in 7th grade and i understood it. it is also one of my favorite books ever. i think that this is a great book, really well-written, and has a deeper meaning to it.  They also haven't read Wait till Next Year if this is their least favorite book. your summary is much better :)
 
Medina D. replied...
Dec. 8, 2010 at 10:18 pm :
ThaNK YOU!!:)
 
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WritingJulia This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Nov. 29, 2010 at 8:58 pm:
I read the book about 2 months ago for English class, and we had some pretty humerous discussions.  It proposes some interesting thoughts regarding society though.
 
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KrystalTThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Nov. 20, 2010 at 5:58 pm:
I have read this book and many others. But this one really sticks out in my mind. I found it very captivating and am quite exited to find out there are two more books following it. I can't wait to read them!
 
Nicki585 replied...
Dec. 4, 2010 at 9:19 am :
What are the titles of the next two books? When do they come out?
 
TheWordSmith replied...
Dec. 11, 2010 at 4:25 pm :
Nicki585: Gathering Blue is one of the books and it is already out. I didn't know there was another one.
 
lovevpets replied...
Dec. 29, 2010 at 7:18 pm :
Gathering Blue and The Messenger, both of which I have but haven't read yet.
 
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AshTree said...
Nov. 14, 2010 at 11:06 am:
I read this book in the 6th grade and probably understood the meaning behind it better than you did. If you couldn't make sense of it that was your fault. I personally loved the book and it was made to make you think. I like it because the author isn't spoonfeeding you, you have to comprehend why this is wrong, why people think it's right, and in the end Lois Lowry leaves you to once again THINK. I don't mean to be rude but I loved the book and the messenger is somewhat a sequel to it and the me... (more »)
 
AshTree replied...
Nov. 14, 2010 at 11:08 am :
oops i meant gathering blue is the sequel then messenger sorry got confused
 
isabel17 replied...
Nov. 16, 2010 at 6:55 pm :
i totally agree :) i love lois lowry. have you read number this stars? amazing book also. i also read the book in sixth grade :) yeah she definitely makes u  thnik! great response! are the other two boooks good too? i started reading gathering blue and never finished...
 
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CandyceCane93 said...
Nov. 14, 2010 at 8:13 am:
When i first read the giver in 8th grade i was really dissapointed in the end and i was really upset, but then  i wanted to get lois lowry's sequel to the giver a year later so i had to read the giver agian to remember what happened and guess what, once i read it again i really had a better out look on the book and i appriciated it alot more, also i would recommend her books gathering blue and the messenger to anyone who reads this they are really great. :)
 
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IHATETHISANDU said...
Nov. 10, 2010 at 1:30 pm:
My feelings on this guy or girls comments u horriable.I hate this top huge comment cause this book rocked and I would tell everyone to read this book.And if u dont like my comment kiss my Rosey red cheaks!!!!!!
 
isabel17 replied...
Nov. 16, 2010 at 6:57 pm :
haha thats great... kiss my rosey read cheeks. i also loved the book :)
 
isabel17 replied...
Nov. 16, 2010 at 6:57 pm :
 rosey red * cheeks
 
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BookWorm579 This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Nov. 6, 2010 at 12:24 am:

This book is so wonderful because it forces you to look at life and conformity in a new and different way.  Something powerful about this book is that it doesn't say outright what's wrong with Jonas' world.  It just gives cryptic hints through context and memories.  Additionally, the ambiguous ending allows the reader to decide what they believe happens to Jonas.

Anthem, by Ayn Rand is a similar read and, in my opinion, another insightful incarnation of the dys... (more »)

 
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DaydreamBeliever This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Oct. 23, 2010 at 10:23 pm:
I did not love the book either, and I did find some of it confusing but it was not the worst book I have ever read. I found it was an interesting way of looking at the world, and it was cool imaging what life would be like it their world. 
 
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