The Giver by Lois Lowry

To anyone who hasn't read this book- I would recommend it :)

I had read this book in Elementary School, but recently found out it's part of a series.  I couldn't remember this book well enough to write a review or to read a second book, if the story continues.

I loved this book.  It is placed in the future, where apparently the human race decides to make things better by going to what they call "Sameness".  The Receiver is the one person who holds all the memories from the past, so that when making new rules and decisions- someone can have the wisdom to try and make the best decision based on the past.  When they pick a new Receiver, the old Receiver calls himself the Giver- since he is giving his memories to the new Receiver.

Through all these memories they are able to discuss different emotions, natural phenomena, and other issues without being preachy about any one issue or topic.  It is very well written so as to make us all think about the importance of different things.  For example- what good is war?  Why should we judge based on hair color or skin color?  Should we be tied to emotions?  It doesn't answer those questions, but it brings so many issues up for the reader to think about and come to their own conclusion.  I guess, in one sense it does answer the question, because both the Giver and the Receiver wish to make some drastic changes in the community and revert back in some ways.

SPOILER ALERT:  Throughout the book they talk about Elsewhere.  Old people and sometimes infants are released from the community and the people are told they go "Elsewhere".  If they commit three major crimes (according to the community) they are also released.  And here I'm going to talk about the end of the book- so stop reading if you don't want to know anything about the end.  The boy tries escaping the communities.  Him and the Giver believe that there is still a place where Elsewhere exists, and that people may still live outside the communities and the Sameness.  At the end of the book, the boy is tired, barely still going and holding on.  It ends hopeful, and the last time I read it I took that to mean that there was people in Elsewhere.  But this time I found a new possibility.  When the community would "release" someone and send them to "Elsewhere"  it meant that they were killed.  So this time reading the book I realized that the boy accomplished his goal/mission and it's possible that the last experience in the book is really him dying- similar to the community's way of releasing people, instead of reaching an Elsewhere that the people assumed people were being sent to.  I still would like to believe that there were people living outside the Sameness communities, that he lived and survived, and maybe the next books will tell us, though I don't think they follow the same boy.  From the brief summary of the next book I believe it is a story of the community and how they may hopefully start to change for the better.  I guess we'll see. :)