The Giver by Lois Lowry

 I just finished reading 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry. This is the second time I have read this book, the first being several years ago during my Children's Literature Methods class. I remember the first time I read it that I ended the book and was a little shocked at the ending and a little confused. This time the ending made way more sense to me so I am not sure if I just skipped too many parts in the first read. I approached this reading through the eyes of a fifth grade student and at this point I can see that this book might be a little confusing for some students. I can also see with the concept of "release" which ends up being murder and in one situation suicide that this topic might bring up mixed feelings for some students, especially if you have a student who has experienced the loss of a family member.

I think I will hold off using this book as a read-aloud until I talk to the other 5th grade teachers about their feelings for the book. It is a really good book but with my inexperience with the emotions of 5th grade students I think it is best for me to wait to make a decision on this book.

This is a really good book but does touch on a very sensitive topic such as murder of children and older adults. They call it "release". In the book when they talk about release it is in a very positive tone, speaking about ceremonies and the reader gets the feeling that it is a joyous occasion. It isn't until the main character, Jonas, is allowed to watch the procedures his father goes through with the  release of a healthy twin male (who was chosen to be released based only on the fact that he was born a twin and that he weighted a few ounces less than his brother). The child is "released" by an injection of a mediation into the soft part of his head. It is then described that the child cries and then flaps his arms and then goes limp. The dead baby is then wrapped up, put in a box, and then put in a door that is described as a trash shoot that you find at a school. The person who "released" the child (Jonas' father) then waves bye to the child with a smile on his face and goes about his day.

I am not sure about you but that is a very hard image to have in your head as an adult let alone a 5th grade student that might not understand or have experienced death, or worse one that has experienced death and might feel that calling it "released" is making it sound like it is a good thing. 

I am slowly starting to think this book is a bad idea for 5th graders. I will post back as soon as I talk to the other teachers in my building. I was hoping this might be a good book since there is a movie coming out this fall but... we will see. www.loislowry.com