The Giver: A Book Review

A few weeks back, one of my friends handed me a book and said, “I think you’ll like this.” It was a short, 179-page book by Lois Lowry called The Giver.

As usual, my friend was also on top of the news that this book is being converted into a movie, to be released this August.

So I started reading – and didn’t want to stop. Lowry writes in a clear, simple style that middle-school students would enjoy but that also pulls adults into the story of Jonas, a soon-to-be TWELVE, whose ASSIGNMENT is something he never imagined.

Jonas lives in a futuristic, utopian society – at least, it seems perfect on the surface. Everyone follows a strict order of rules, is rigidly polite, and takes prescribed medication that prevents pain and emotion. "Releases" are celebrated in the House of the Old, and for the premature, but no one really knows what they involve.

At twelve, each child is assigned his life-long occupation since no one, other than a group of Elders, is responsible for making choices. Jonas, who is generally good at everything, can’t guess what his assignment might be.

When he learns that he has been selected as the next Receiver, he is nervous and afraid, for there is only one Receiver who holds all the memories of pain and pleasure in life – so that nothing disrupts the predictable order and harmony of the community.

But as Jonas receives both painful and pleasurable memories from the Giver, he discovers the truth and realizes he can never go back to his old way of life.

Discussion Points

The story is simple and short, but the message behind the story is powerful. What is the meaning and value of life?

Can anyone truly live if completely shielded from pain? Both the Giver and Jonas realize the answer is no, because memories bring both pain and happiness. If you prevent pain, you can never experience joy and love.

You can also never experience family. The happiest memory Jonas receives is a family, including grandparents, at Christmas. But in Jonas’ community, there are no grandparents. Children are assigned parents based on a selection process. Once children grow up, parents live by themselves and eventually enter the House of the Old. There are no true family ties.

An even more horrific practice that Jonas discovers is the true nature of release – euthanasia – practiced on both the very old and sometimes, the very young. He forcefully feels that life must have meaning and in the end, decides that saving one individual is worth risking everything.

Final Thoughts

Life is something to prize and cherish. This is a message, I believe, that’s lacking in American society today. After all, what is abortion but euthanasia for what some view as an “inconvenience”?  

Lowry’s message is a timely one, although without the gospel message, nevertheless an incomplete one. It will be interesting to see how Hollywood translates the book. I can only wonder if viewers will be able to draw the parallel between Jonas’ society and the flippant view of life that our culture often takes.

C. S. Lewis once said, “To love is to be vulnerable.” To be vulnerable involves possible pain, loneliness and fear. But as Lowry’s story reminds us, life without love is meaningless.

The Fault in Our Stars: A Review

After hearing many of my eighth and ninth grade students rave over John Green's The Fault in Our Stars last semester, I bought it on Amazon and added it to my reading list.

What was so irresistible about this book that made it impossible for teen (mostly girl) readers to put it down?

As you may know, this book is a love story between terminal cancer patients who try to make the most of their “little infinity” together. That alone makes it a captivating story that immediately grabs at your heartstrings.

What I liked

Hands down, John Green tells a great story. He provides so many details to build each character’s individuality that you feel you know Augustus and Hazel Grace and are personally involved in their lives. You care about them and what happens to them – and that is why you will need a tissue box before you finish the book.

I also liked that he shared not only the struggles of these teens, but also showed the involvement of their parents, especially Hazel’s. Fighting cancer was a family affair, and even when Hazel was annoyed with her parents, she recognized that their sacrifices were because of their love for her. In fact, she understood this so deeply that she felt guilty for making them put their lives “on hold” for her. The relationship developed among father, mother, and daughter was something I respected – especially because you generally don’t see this in popular teen fiction.

Not so much

The author has a raw, irreverent writing style and often used language to convey his characters’ thoughts and feelings. This, in my opinion, is laziness. Find another word – or simply show how the character feels – instead of encouraging teenage readers to dumb down their own vocabulary.

Because of its subject, this book took advantage of raising and discussing some big questions. Fiction can be a powerful tool to influence young minds, and I strongly disagreed with the author’s perspective. Here are some “for instances”:

Where did we come from, and what happens after death?

• Hazel’s answer: “There was a time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be a time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I would encourage you to ignore it.”
• Augustus’ answer on an afterlife isn’t much more comforting, although he thinks he believes in something: “Yes, absolutely. Not like a heaven where you ride unicorns, play harps, and live in a mansion made of clouds. But yes. I believe in Something with a capital S.”

Is there a purpose to life?

• Augustus: “We’re all just side effects, right?”
• Hazel, quoting her favorite author, offers the suggestion that humanity is nothing more than “barnacles on the container ship of consciousness”
• Augustus also answers this question in a letter discovered after his death: “We are likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we’re not likely to do either.”

Final thoughts

Am I overanalyzing this? I don’t think so, although I do think most teens liked the story for the story itself and didn’t consider what message the author was conveying.

Did I see the movie? No, and I probably won’t. I prefer not to watch love scenes between minors. For a full and excellent analysis on the movie, though, please visit pluggedin.com.

Should you read the book? If you have a teen or work with teens, I would say most definitely yes, because then, you can engage them about the book – what is likable and what conflicts with the biblical worldview.

If anyone needs a copy, I have one I would be willing to part with.

A Book Review: Seven by Jen Hatmaker

You may have heard about Seven on the radio or seen it on the shelf at your Christian bookstore. I first heard about it when I started some part-time work for Stone Island Communications, an agency that represents some of today's finest Christian women speakers.

Seven. Seven. Seven. The inquiries I answered raved about this book, how it had transformed their lives, families, and their life groups at church.  Jen Hatmaker is a Christian author and speaker whose writing makes you feel as though you’re her intimate friend, and she isn’t afraid to share all her shortcomings, victories and defeats.

She undertook her Seven project, “an experimental mutiny against excess,” along with her family and close friends, whom she calls “the Council.” She chose seven areas needing reform in her own life, and then tackled each one a month at a time.

Clothes. Spending. Waste. Food. Possessions. Media. Stress.

The book reads like a journal through each month, and entries range from anecdotes that will make you laugh out loud to heavy concepts you may need to pray about.

One word of caution. This book is not Tozer’s The Pursuit of God (which I also loved). Hatmaker takes an honest, sometimes raw, point of view which some readers may find not very church-like, perhaps slightly offensive. I may not have agreed with everything she said, but I appreciated her sincerity and courage to embark on “a journey of less.”

However, Hatmaker's voice is a strong one. Although she identifies her target audience as middle- to upper-middle class parents, this book will appeal to twenty-somethings and up who are willing to set aside consumerism and comfort for practical Christianity.

Seven reveals the truth every believer should confront: Simplifying your life provides more space for amplifying God.

I love this idea. This weekend is a garage sale at my church for our summer youth mission trip, and I’m searching my room to see what needs to go.

But that’s just one small application.

Read Seven, and you’ll find yourself looking at your stuff, your time and your priorities in a different way.

Submerged by Dani Pettrey - Book Review

If you enjoy Dee Henderson’s books, you will love Dani Pettrey’s first book in her new romantic suspense series called Alaskan Courage.

Summary

In Submerged, Pettrey introduces you to Bailey Craig, a woman with a past she has tried to forget, and Cole McKennna, the man who loved her before she broke his heart.

When her aunt’s tragic death forces her to return to Yancey, Alaska, Bailey wants to settle the estate quickly and make her stay as short as possible. She dreads facing the people she fears will only remember her as the teenager the boys nicknamed “Easy Bay Lay”– not the new woman she is in Christ.

But was her aunt’s plane crash really an accident? And is there connection between the photo of a missing Russian icon and the deaths of two deep-water divers? Bailey reluctantly agrees to assist in the investigation, only to find herself increasingly drawn to the man she feels unworthy to love and into the path of a ruthless killer.

Review

Pettrey combines a story of second chances with a page-turning mystery you won’t want to put down. Her vivid imagery and descriptions make you feel as though you are living the adventure along with her characters.

Speaking of characters, they are believable and lovable. Your heart aches for Bailey and the mistakes she’s made. You respect and admire Cole for raising his younger siblings after their parents’ deaths. Even though this story focuses on Bailey and Cole, Pettrey begins to develop the personalities of Cole’s younger siblings, so that by the end of book one, you’re eager to read more about them.

And Pettrey is happy to deliver. Book two Shattered is scheduled for release in February.

Learn more by visiting Pettrey’s fabulous website.