a must read!
kids in america probably already read it, since its part of the english program...
but if you havent, its a MUST READ!

The Giver is a soft science fiction novel written by Lois Lowry and published on April 16, 1993. It is set in a future society which is at first presented as a utopia and gradually appears more and more dystopic. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. Jonas' society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a move which has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory," the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed. As Jonas receives the memories from his predecessor—the Giver—he discovers how shallow his community's life has become.

courtesy of wikipedia. -_-

hehe yeah, i read it last year and i couldn't believe a lot of people didn't understand the ending, its sort of ambiguous, i guess, but i liked it :]

That was the saddest and best book i ever read!!!

We had to sign a permission slip in middle school to be able to read it b/c it deals with euthenasia.

I remember a big deal happing about the book because of that and they wanting to ban it! You can't stop good literature ppl just because it portrays something you don't believe in..... besides.... it's FICTION! F.I.C.T.I.O.N!!!

I swear...... some people just ruin everything for the rest of us! :grrr:

whats euthenasia? I read it last year (freshman year) and i liked it, but i dunno what that word means :]. Enlighten me oh holy sexe one :]

you know how they kill the babies by injecting them? That's euthenasia... it's giving a letal injection to put people to sleep... permanently!! T.T

WAHHSS, oh noes! *cries*, THATS MEAN AND EVIL DAMMIT!
gah and i g2g, i'm probably gonna sleep at one tonight,m rawr >_<
so much WORKKK >_<

ah...i remember reading that...it was long ago lol joking.
It was so sad i remmeber going how sad and then asking and laways bothering my brother what happening where is he going? type of thing.. all in all it was good. just like Gathering Blue

lol, yup, I read for English 2 years ago, a little foggy on the details...now...lol @.@

I read it AGES ago......... *thinking of it, makes me feel soooooo old* T.T

I was in 7th grade when they made us read it, and we had to get a permission slip signed by our parents to read it. I think i read it like a dozen times..... it was soooooo sad!!! But i couldn't give you specifics now!!! @.@

We read in 8th grade.
A gril in my class cried... but...the ending left me confused....its like you can interperate it however you want....

I read that in 8th grade, pretty interestin, the thing that bothered my about the book was the ending. The funny thing is that, the author would answer everythin about her novels, execpt the one about the ending of her book =\

um... i've read it before, but almost forgot it. if i'm correct isn't the place where the main character was first in so uniform? the same clothing, i mean

omg i read tat book when i was lyk in fourth grade
the society portayed in the novel is so wierd
no one has compassion or feelings
it so sad too T.T

This was the book that sparked my interest into reading more books!!! I just love the story especially Jonas himself!!! That's why I read the whole trilogy starting from the giver to The messenger I just love them so much and I actually found reading it useful in my book report!!! -_-

This is a really really good book.
But I found it to be really sad at times too.
However, the utopia they speak of is definitely falling apart.
So many flaws in it, I would say.

A great book that reflects Karl Marx's idea of a utopia world.

I love how the authors makes ME want to live in a utopia world. However, I think that utopia society is kinda messed up however we should also do the utopia thing to control mass violence, over population and bad crimes. But however, according the Darwin, humans would not be able to evolve. @.@

Well, I had to read this from Language Arts with my class. And I think i might of enjoyed it more if I didnt have to do all the extra work that came with it. Though , overall it was Fantastic.

i liked it when i read it but i didn't like the sequels that much plus what happened to the baby in the 3rd book.....did he die and only the boy survived to live there???? but anyway the entire series was never one of my favs but the first book was good.

This is an amazing book!! It was one of my favorites. The sequels though just weren't as great. They didn't give me the same impact that the first book gave.

i loved this book! i wanna read it again, but i just can't seem to find the book!

its a real easy read. i read it in like less than 5 days(i never thought i'd finish a book that quickly). its wierd but pretty good.

I read it in Junior High. I don't remember much of what happened, but I remember I felt like crying it was so sad.

I find The Giver actually really touching!! one of the best!

I actually had to read this in grade 6 for a novel study. The whole class had to, and it was fantastic. A world of no color, a place that was 'perfect' yet on the inside so twisted. Even so, I was visioning myself in this world, wondering what my name would be. Who would I be married to? What would my job be? After reading this novel I came across Gathering Blue which is somewhat like a continuation, but with a different character. If you liked the The Giver you should read it.

read that in 8th grade, good times..... I still remember the plot of the book , it was rlly good though the ending was a big cliff hanger...

Read it a long long time ago, it was really sad but a good story. It's similar to "1984" by George Orwell (a good read as well).

I LOVE THIS BOOK....though I kinda despised the father in the end...but it wasn't his fault......xD

i read this book in 7th grade, it was a really good read, i still think the ending was too open-ended, but it works i guess

Oh yes, this is one of those books that you actually WANTED to go ahead and READ before the tape can even read it for you...I mean, this is a book you wouldn't want to put your head on the table to snooze on. xDD Which I do with most in class books~! xD

Yes, I LOVED this book it gave very interesting interpretation in how it would be like in the future if we actual got to the point that everything was soooo perfect.

i read this book like in 7th grade around there it was actually interesting .. and sad even though we had to read it at school i actually read more at home :P

i really liked this book. the idea of it was really interesting. i'm just glad our world isn't like that.

i remember i had to read the book in 5th grade but i dont remember anything about it. we had to right asequel about how we thoutght wat would happen next. :hahaha:

wow, that book brings back memories.
i loved the storyline, but it took me a while to get.
its a very deep story, and i'm suprised they make elementry school kids read it. -_-

i really liked it! it was part of my LA curriculum.

I love the Giver! Haven't read it in a couple of years.. probably 5 or 7 years ago.

I read it when i was in 8th grade. I was gonna read the sequels, but never got around to them.

I like her style... i have read her other books....gathering blue and the messenger!

the giver is such a good book! my teacher recommended it to me and it was defiantly worth it! it has such a good story and seriously questions yourself a lot. you wonder about their living and it's just seriously so good.

i agree! defiantly a must read!

I read this book in 5th grade and i have never been more freaked out in my life by a book. I hate the ending, it makes me really really depressed

I had to read it in 6th grade. It was really freaky at that time but now I've come to appreciate it. But it's so sad how they get rid of children who aren't big enough...? I think?? @.@ Yeah, but it still was a good read.