Modern Fantasy
Newberry Winner
Chapter Book
Jonas, an 11-year old boy, lives in a futuristic society in which all things we know as "bad" (suffering, hunger, war) have been eliminated. At the Ceremony of Twelve, children are assigned jobs based on their abilities and interests and Jonas is given the highly honorable job of Assignment of Receiver of Memory. He will be the keeper of the society's collective memory. The previous Receiver of Memory, a wise, old man who now becomes The Giver, passes memories, good and bad, down to Jonas. This job completely changes the way Jonas views the world and leads to he and The Giver's idea to devise a plan in order to stop the corruption that is happening in their community. I read this book as a 5th grader in a upper-level reading group at Willow Springs Elementary School. It is one of the few I remember reading in elementary school due to how engaging and exciting it is. As a college student, I found it to be just as good as I remembered it to be when I was in 5th grade. I would suggest using this book in upper-level reading groups in a 4th or 5th grade classroom. There are many historic and new vocabulary words/ideas that may need to be discussed in depth (Utopian society, the idea of memories, futuristic qualities of the story) and those would be best discussed/learned in a small, higher-level reading group. Another activity that could be used with this novel is a writing assignment in which students put themselves in Jonas' shoes. How would they escape to Elsewhere? Do you wish our society today was similar to the society that Jonas lived in? What job do you think The Elders would assign to you?
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