Is The Giver Worth Reading?
by Lois Lowry
Ada’s Score
Lois Lowry's 1994 Newbery Medal-winning novel introduces Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy living in a seemingly perfect, painless society where all choices are made by the Community's Elders. When Jonas is selected to be the Receiver of Memory, he begins to understand the terrifying cost of his world's engineered contentment. With spare, elegant prose, Lowry explores the necessity of pain, freedom, colour, and love for a fully human life. The Giver has challenged and moved generations of young readers, remaining as urgent and unsettling as the day it was published.
Classic Pick“Spare and devastating — Lowry's quiet dystopia asks what we'd surrender for peace, and the answer still shakes me.”
The Childhood Book That Planted a Question You're Still Answering
Lois Lowry asked one of the most quietly devastating questions in all of children's literature — what would you sacrifice to never feel pain again? Jonas lives in a world of enforced sameness and safety until he alone is chosen to carry the memory of everything humanity gave up, and the weight of that knowledge changes him completely. It is a slim book that somehow contains multitudes, and it hits differently every single time you return to it.
Ada Brief
AI reading intelligence“Spare and devastating — Lowry's quiet dystopia asks what we'd surrender for peace, and the answer still shakes me.”
The Childhood Book That Planted a Question You're Still Answering
Lois Lowry asked one of the most quietly devastating questions in all of children's literature — what would you sacrifice to never feel pain again? Jonas lives in a world of enforced sameness and safety until he alone is chosen to carry the memory of everything humanity gave up, and the weight of that knowledge changes him completely. It is a slim book that somehow contains multitudes, and it hits differently every single time you return to it.
Book Details
- Publisher
- Collins Educational
- Published
- January 1, 1993
- Pages
- 200
- Language
- English
Get This Book
Affiliate linksISBN: 9780544336261
Disclosure: ReadAda earns a commission on purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you.
Ada’s Score
4.6
Ada’s editorial score — not an aggregate of reader reviews.
Common Questions About The Giver
- Is The Giver worth reading?
- Spare and devastating — Lowry's quiet dystopia asks what we'd surrender for peace, and the answer still shakes me. Ada rates it 4.6 out of 5.
- How many pages is The Giver?
- The Giver is 200 pages long — around 4–5 hours at an average reading pace.
Ada also recommends
More from Young Adult
Release Me
Tahereh Mafi
Ada’s Score
Behind Five Willows
June Hur
Ada’s Score
The Escape Game
Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss
Ada’s Score
Us Dark Few
Alexis Patton
Ada’s Score
Fake Skating
Lynn Painter
Ada’s Score