The Giver

I can't remember when I first read The Giver by Lois Lowry, but I reread it with my class in 9th grade.

A 12-year-old boy named Jonas lives in the perfect community. Everyone is the same, everyone gets the perfect job assignment when they reach their 12th ceremony in December, and no one is left out or rude. And should anyone feel out of place, or break the rules more than twice, they are simply and quietly released from the community.

Perfect, right?

That's what Jonas always thought, until he was selected to be the next Receiver of Memories. Transmitted by touch, memories are the skeleton in the Council's closet. They don't like or want the memories, but they need them all the same. And so they choose one person every generation or so to bear those memories all on his or her own.

Some memories are fantastic - like color, or snow, or sunshine, or rainbows!

Some are horrible - like war, or broken bones, or hunger, or abandonment.

Whether good or bad, the Receiver of Memories bears them all alone. Once in a while, he uses those memories to aid the Council in a difficult decision, and they often listen; but they don't want to hear about why the Receiver recommends this action, how he knows the best course to take. They don't want that burden.

Jonas is in for a major cultural shock. And as if it weren't shocking enough to discover color or animals or real pain (emotional and physical), he soon finds out his own community is darker than he ever knew.