We held two different book club discussion events for this book and we had a great group each time (work place discussion at a large university in the midwest). People were really excited about the book and the implications of if a highly structured (utopian) society vs. a society were you are allowed choices.

Great book for those interested in discussion of vocation, discernment, life choices and decision making. Most students in middle school/jr. high schools read this book --- but I STRONGLY encourage everyone to read this book -- and get into a discussion about it with your children, grandchildren or other adults.

This is an easy read but opens up many areas for discussion. It was our first book club book and it was a great opener.

I have been a middle school teacher for almost 30 years and I teach this book to my 8th graders. Rarely does a book generate so much discussion and such thoughtful queries. I am not a big science fiction or fantasy fan but this is a book that I can read again and again. Jonas lives in what appears to be a futuristic society. Although it is meant to be utopian it is clearly a dystopia. This is a world without pain and without prejudice. It is also a world without color, without music and without real love. How much would you give up in personal freedom to insure tranquility and peace? The novel touches on some painful issues... especially the euthanasia of infants, but is guaranteed to generate terrific and thoughtful discussions.

I read this book because my daughter's 6th grade teacher is having the class read it after spring break. I thought I would get a head start to help her and I picked the book up and read it in a couple of hours, I couldn't put it down. I can not even begin to imagine what it would be like to live in that type of environment, being told at such a young age what you will do for the rest of your life.

There was a very interesting discussion about this book.

"The Giver" generated one of the best discussions we've had in our Book Club. People were passionate about the ideas in the book and the feelings they generated. "The Giver" is coming out as a movie later this year, so this is a good time for a read. Was a very quick read too, which people always appreciate.

Excellent book. Very interesting concept.

This book was suggested to me, because of its excellence, by someone associated with a children’s book review site, http://www.sweetonbooks.com/. When I began the book, I had this question in mind…who or what is The Giver? When I finished it, I had my answer…The Giver is the keeper and disseminator of all memories to the Receiver, the ultimate decider, the holder of all experience, good and bad, pleasurable and painful, the one who enables everyone else to live in a peaceful state, similar to that of drugged contentment, by bearing all of the ills and goodness of the world on his/her shoulders. It is the one making a huge sacrifice for the many. I pictured Atlas kneeling under the weight of all this knowledge. It makes for a great discussion. Is this fair? Is it too great a burden for only one person to bear in order that others bear nothing? I highly recommend this book, to adults as well as children because of the timely and interesting issues it brings up for consideration and discussion.
The book is about a controlled society in which social mores are taken to the extreme and everyone and every act of life is controlled and managed by The Elders, supposedly to provide all that is needed to its citizens without wars or hunger, pain or suffering. “Sameness” is promoted as the ultimate end. It is a society without the extremes of true emotion and is intended to be perfect, safe and secure for all of its citizens.
The population is strictly defined, behavior is modified to conform, marriages are arranged, only two children are allowed per family, children are selected and placed with families after the proper filing and approval of applications, rather than being born into them and there is no extended family. When “placed” children grow up, and are mature enough to leave home and set out on their own, their surrogate parents are moved into communities for the “childless”. When they become elderly, they are placed in a community for the old and are eventually “released” into “elsewhere” as are some of the newborns, in order to control the population. In the modern day world of today, these practices could be debated as using death panels.
All behavior is dictated as are careers and all deviations to the norm are punished, sometimes severely. There is no creative thought or individualism. Deep feelings do not exist. Life is totally without freedom of thought and lifespan is chosen by an outside source. It is what seems like a utopian society at first, then as a "utopia gone bad", because there is no diversity of opinion, no knowledge of the past, no true experiences of joy or deep emotion, no freedom of choice or anything, for that matter. Everything is dictated by a "higher power" but not a G-d, rather a group of Elders. There is only the now and a controlled way of life in which all decisions are made by the Elders and The Receiver, for what would seem like the mutual benefit of all but it is apparently more beneficial to the ones in charge. Total control does not allow for discontent.
This book provokes tremendous thoughtfulness and introspection about how we live and why. The “newchild” and the elderly are treated as tenderly as if they were the same rather than one who is entering life as the other is preparing to exit...it is the closing of the circle, both are frail and needy.
The book has great value as a tool to introduce a variety of topics for discussion with 11-14 year olds who are not quite ready for books like The Hunger Games or Logan’s Run. On an adult level, it reminded me of The Stepford Wives. Some interesting topics raised in the book include, who has the right to decide life and death for others, what is an appropriate punishment for societal infractions, at what point does regulation and control become oppressive, is it a good thing to remove choice from our lives since it eliminates the possibility of making wrong decisions, is lying acceptable, how would we be affected if we could not feel love, wouldn’t we be like wind- up toys, etc? What would our lives be like without individualism, independence and the freedom to make our own decisions and choices, for instance? Is it good to feel intense emotions such as pleasure and pain?
Although this simple and well written science fiction novel won the Newberry Medal, it’s appropriateness for adolescents has often been questioned because the subject matter touches on some controversial topics such as sexual awakening and euthanasia.
There are a total of three books in the series. Gathering Blue and The Messenger are the second and third.

An easy read that makes you think about status quo, and whether it is better to live life to its fullest or to live it safely.

Our book club had a very long and intense discussion of this book. The Giver (Receiver) is the only one to retain all the memories (both the good, pleasurable, the bad and the painful ones). It is the Giver's job to pass on all of these memories to Jonas, a 12 year-old. What affect does this position have for both of them? How has the community been changed so on one ever suffers and how does this help or hurt them? How are we like or different from this futuristic community today? What happens in the end is left up to you to decide.

Quick read and lots of discussion topics

Good