All the negative aspects of society have been removed and the community lives in a safe world of sameness, but unfortunately many of the positive aspects of life have also been removed.Īt his Ceremony of Twelve Jonas is assigned the position of Receiver of Memory. Jonas lives in a community where a group of Elders select everything including one’s parents, career, spouse and children.

The novel opens with eleven-year-old Jonas awaiting his Ceremony of Twelve, where he will be assigned his career and begin his training. But for a teenager-or an adult-I think it is a wonderful, provocative read. Rather, the themes are deep and disturbing enough-and the ending open-ended enough-that I don't think a preteen would be able to take it all in.

Not because of the very mild and beautifully drawn budding sexuality of the protagonist, Jonas. Either way, the moment is transformative.īeautiful as this book is, it ISN'T appropriate for my nine-year old. The conclusion of the book is-I hate to overuse the word, but it's the only one that fits-daring, forcing the reader to decide for him or herself just what has happened. Every bit as daring as 1984 and Brave New World, Lowry forces us to look very closely at what it is that makes us human, and what the costs and benefits of conformity really are. The book takes on themes that are incredibly sophisticated and examines them in ways that even a bonehead like me can wrap his mind around. I picked this book up to see if it would be appropriate for my precocious nine-year-old, and was blown away by Lowry's daring plot and wonderful prose.

The giver story