The Giver

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Houghton Mifflin, 1993.  Tr. $17.00, ISBN 978-0395645666

What’s it about?

Jonas’s world seems like a utopia at first glance—no war, no poverty, no unemployment—but when he is assigned the role of the Receiver of Memories, he begins to learn that the sameness his society strives for has an ugly side. 

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Jonas’s world is free of pain and miseries like hunger and poverty. People are considerate, orderly, and daily life holds no surprises. Anything that disrupts the Sameness is a threat, and people who disrupt the Sameness are Released. Release is what happens when a member of society cannot meet the standards of the Community. Perhaps they’ve broken too many rules. Perhaps they are Old. Maybe they are infants that haven’t thrived. What happens when people are released is vague.  They are said to go Elsewhere.  The Community is so orderly that every person is assigned their role in the community in an important ceremony at the age of 12. Some, like Jonas’s father are Nurturers, given the task of caring for the newchildren. Some are Laborers, Birthmothers, Architects—and one, Jonas, is assigned the incredible and difficult role of Receiver of Memories. His assignment is so special that he is the first in 10 years to be assigned this role. There is only one other Receiver of Memories, and now that Jonas has been selected for this role, he is the Giver. Through his training with the Giver, Jonas learns of a time when terrible things like pain and war existed. He also learns that when these terrible things existed, there were also wonderful things, such as love, perception of color, animals, grandparents, weather and more aspects of a rich and varied existence. He begins to long for the type of life people had before the Sameness, but he is conflicted about this wish. Isn’t everything perfect? There is no suffering, after all.  His opinion gradually begins to change, but the real turning point is when he witnesses the release of a baby twin, chosen because he was the smaller of the two by 6 ounces.

The Giver is a very disturbing book. It’s been banned and challenged countless times for its disturbing themes as well as references to sexuality (“stirrings”). The fact that it has the power to disturb us means it is hitting uncomfortably close to home. If this society had no resemblance to us, we would not treat this book seriously. There are references to infanticide of children who fail to thrive, which calls to mind people’s decisions to abort babies with genetic abnormalities.  There are references to euthanasia. To executing criminals (people who break the Community’s rules three times). What is amazing about the people in this society is that everyone is so complacent. They are content with Sameness, and threatened by anything that deviates, such as pilots who make errors, children who cry at night and identical twins.  No one misses love or other deep emotions because they know nothing about them. Only the Receiver of memories knows, and it is his burden to protect the Community from all these confusing feelings and memories. Lowry writes with heavy allegory, and the precise nature of how the Community has arrived at this state of Sameness is unclear. Lowry’s prose is simple, almost naïve sounding, which is fitting since the Community’s knowledge is so limited. The Giver and eventually Jonas have much greater experience and knowledge because of the memories they hold. Lowry conveys Jonas’s increased emotional awareness by introducing more complex descriptions about what Jonas experiences and thinks. The one complaint I’ve heard from people who love this book is ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. What really happened to Jonas and Gabe? Did they survive? Only readers who continue the trilogy and read the Messenger (the third book) find out what happened to them.  Lowry intentionally left their fates uncertain and said there is no correct interpretation about what happened to them, that how we interpret it depend on our own belief system.

Genre label: Dystopian Science Fiction

Reading level: 6^th grade

Interest level: Grades 5-10

Read-alikes:

Roth’s Divergent

Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

L’Engle A Wrinkle in Time

Huxley’s Brave New World

Subjects: Dystopian society, conformity, totalitarianism, euthanasia, infanticide, emotional depth, choice, memories, knowledge

Awards:

Newbery Medal (1994)

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book                

Series information:

Gathering Blue

The Messenger 

Bamboo Blade (anime)

Bamboo Blade (Anime).  AIC A.S.T.A., 2007-2008. Licensed by Funimation Entertainment.

What’s it about?

Toraji Ishida (aka Kojirou) is a part-time high school teacher and kendo* instructor at Muroe High, and struggling to make ends meet. When his former senpai, Kenzaburo, who is also a high school kendo instructor, challenges Kojirou’s team, offering him a year’s supply of sushi from his father’s restaurant if his girl’s team can win--now all Kojirou has to do is recruit a team!  

*For readers unfamiliar with the term, kendo is a form of Japanese fencing, performed with a long bamboo blade, hence the title of the series

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A part-time high school teacher and kendo coach, Kojirou, is struggling to scrape enough money together to have a decent meal. He jumps at the chance to win a whole year’s worth of meals at his friend’s father’s sushi restaurant. All he has to do is have his girl’s kendo team and beat his senpai’s team. Simple, right? Well, first Kojirou has to assemble a team. This proves to be difficult---in fact, at his first practice match against Kenzaburo’s team, he only has four girls, and tries to pass his best fencer, Tamaki, off as two different people. Kojirou eventually fields a full team of five with some formidable (and quirky!) fencers.

The character interactions are fun to watch, and quite funny. Dan, a short, plain-looking guy has a gorgeous girlfriend, Miyako (also known as Miya-Miya), so devoted to him that she rides around on a bike with a sidecar. In one episode, Miyako’s foot was injured, but she still rode the bike with Dan in the car despite extreme pain. Dan offered to help, but she knows his feet won’t reach the pedals. The fact that he offered to help, though, acted like the best painkiller in the world, and suddenly she power-pedaled her way back home. This character is rather two-sided, seeming extremely sweet and innocent at first (and always extremely devoted to Dan), but can be cruel and enjoys hitting people. When she is angry, she is depicted as being surrounded by a creepy black and purple aura.  This is a character-driven comedy, and quite hilarious, although no new ground is broken. The animation and backdrops are extremely well done, and the voice acting is also very good, especially in Japanese. Recommend this anime to fans of slice of life comedies and sports-themed anime. It appeals to both male and female audience, even though its target audience is male. 

Genre: Sports comedy, Slice of Life

Interest level: Grades 6 & up

Rating: TV-PG

Subjects: Kendo, High School, Sports, Teachers

Dub or Sub?

I’ve seen the first four episodes in English and thought the dub was decent, but I prefer the sub—the voice actors for Dan and Kojirou are hilarious!

Is it also a manga?

Yes, there are 10 volumes published in English, with the 11^th on its way in mid-December.

Similar anime & manga titles:

K-On!

School Rumble

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Ouran High School Host Club

Series information: The complete series is 26 episodes

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Scholastic, 1999. Paperback $7.99, ISBN 0-439-13636-9.

What’s it about?

Harry Potter is about to begin his third year at Hogwarts with a deadly escaped prisoner from the notorious Azkaban afoot, no less than Sirius Black, who betrayed Harry’s parents and killed thirteen people with a single curse. Harry is in danger, but he has Lupin, a kind and masterful Defense of the Dark Arts instructor, the sage and powerful Dumbledore, and, of course, his loyal friends Ron and Hermione on his side.

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Harry Potter has had it with the Durselys. When his uncle’s insufferable sister insults his parents, Harry uses magic, a big no-no since he is an underage wizard. Gloomily expecting the worst, Harry runs away, only to find out that there are far worse things awaiting him than expulsion. A very dangerous prisoner has escaped from the infamous prison of Azkaban—Sirius Black, was killed thirteen people with a single curse. Worse still for Harry, Sirius was the man responsible for his parents’ deaths by betraying them to Voldemort.  Harry isn’t safe from Sirius or from the Dementors that surround Hogwarts, ostensibly to keep the students safe by keeping Sirius out.

Rowling seems to improve her craft with every Harry Potter book. The second book was arguably her weakest, but Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the most tightly plotted, exciting and suspenseful book yet. This third volume introduces a new character, the likeable Professor Lupin, the first Defense of the Dark Arts character that actually knows anything about the subject he teaches. He acts as a mentor to Harry, teaching him the charm that can repel Dementors, the Patronus. Rather than following the formula of the first two books, Rowling creates a showdown that involves several characters rather than Harry vs. Voldemort, a good decision because while H vs. V is always exciting, it could end up feeling overused. There are many new additions to wizard lore and the world of Hogwarts in this book, including a new “pet” of Hagrid's, boggarts, and a mysterious Marauder’s map cryptically signed by Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs.

Genre: Fantasy


Reading level: 7^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-9—and beyond!

Awards:

ALA Notable Children’s Book

Booklist Editor’s Choice (1999)

Gold Medal Smarties Prize (1999)

A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 1999

Subjects: Wizards, Magic, Boarding School, Good vs. Evil, Betrayal

Read-alikes:

For children: Collins’ Gregor the Overlander series

Dahl’s BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, & Matilda

Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series

For adults:

Grossman’s The Magicians

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series

Many Harry Potter fans also enjoy the TV shows Dr. Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Series information:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Companion books:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Quidditch Throughout the Ages

Tales of Beedle the Bard

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Manga)

CLAMP. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.  Del Rey, 2004. Paperback $10.95, ISBN 978-0345470577.

What’s it about?

Princess Sakura has lost all her memories, and will die if she doesn’t recover them. Enter her childhood friend, Syaoran, who pleads for help from Yuko, the space-time witch, and two men from disparate worlds.

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Princess Sakura is first in line to succeed the throne of the Kingdom of Clow, and is in love with her childhood friend Syaoran, who is unaware of how she feels. She’s no ordinary girl.  She possesses a little-understood power that has the capability to change the world. This same power brings adversity to her life, however, in the form of a strange symbol formed on rock. When she steps on it, she is struck down and robbed of all her memories, never able to articulate how she feels to Syaoran.  Sakura’s memories are scattered. Fragments exist in many different worlds, and Syaoran must collect them to save Sakura’s life.  Syaoran enlists the help of Yuko, the space-time witch and two men from different worlds, the ninja Kurogane and the magician Fai, and begins his desperate search.  

CLAMP is a group of critically acclaimed and prolific Japanese manga artists.  Their artwork is well-known and respected for its detail, creativity, beautiful lines and breath-taking settings and character design. The artwork in this volume looks a bit rougher than usual, and this stylistic difference helps create urgency. Sakura is quickly running out of time, and the Syaoran has to visit many worlds if he wants her to survive. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle is serious in tone, but there are moments of humor, particularly with Kurogane and Fai, whose disparate personalities provide some levity. The translation is solid, with sound effects are translated alongside the original Japanese.  Del Rey provides readers with some information about honorifics at the beginning of the book. The plot twists and grows more complex with each new volume, which may potentially confuse some readers, but boggles the mind (in a good way!) of the rest. This is overall a rich, gorgeous manga with likable protagonists and intriguing secondary characters.

 Genre: Fantasy, romance, adventure

Reading level/interest level: Grades 6 through adult

Subjects: Memory loss, other worlds, heroes, quests

Read-alikes:

CLAMP’s Cardcaptor Sakura

CLAMP’s Xxxholic

Inuyasha

Pandora Hearts

Series information:

Complete series spans 28 volumes. It’s also an anime that aired 52 episodes between 2005 and 2006. The first volume of XXXholic crosses over with the first volume of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. 

Rapunzel's Revenge

Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale.  Rapunzel’s Revenge. Illustrated by Nathan Hale. Bloombury, 2008. Paperback $15.99, ISBN 978-1599902883.

What’s it about?

In this graphic novel fractured fairy-tale, Rapunzel is not a dainty damsel in distress--she rescues herself with her whip-like braids. After her escape from the tower, Rapunzel teams up with the brave, impetuous Jack to free Rapunzel’s mother from the evil Mother Gothel’s mines.     

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Mother Gothel and Rapunzel live in luxury, in a 78 room villa. But Rapunzel becomes curious about the world outside.  When Rapunzel sneaks out on her twelfth birthday to see what lies beyond the great wall, she discovers that Mother Gothel is not her mother. In fact, she stole her from her mother, enslaved and starved in the mine that lies beyond the wall of the castle.  Rapunzel is briefly re-united with her mother and after she angrily confronts Mother Gothel, she is taken away and imprisoned in an enchanted tree, which towers impossibly high over the forest floor.  Rapunzel is trapped for years, having little to do but grow her hair and learn to use it as a lasso and a swing. Finally, her hair grows long enough to allow her escape, and she meets with a young man, Jack, who sees her use her braids as a weapons. He is impressed with her fighting abilities and they team up to fight against the evil Mother Gothel and her far-reaching influence, attempting to free Rapunzel’s mother from slavery.

Rapunzel’s Revenge is a fun fractured fairy tale set in the Wild West. Rapunzel is not helpless a traditional damsel in distress —she’s a strong, feisty heroine who can hold her own.  The Hales put a fun spin on Rapunzel’s story by introducing another fairy-tale character, Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk), who turns out to be Rapunzel’s romantic interest.  The energetic artwork of this graphic novel is colorful and funny—and sometimes frightening, as when Rapunzel is nearly eaten by an enormous rattlesnake. This is a well-paced, witty read that is perfect for reluctant readers, fairy-tale enthusiasts, and anyone who likes their adventure with a generous helping of adventure.

Genre: Fractured fairy-tale, Fantasy, Adventure, Humor

Reading level: 3^rd grade

Interest level: Grades 5 & up

Read-alikes:

Levine’s Ella Enchanted

Napoli’s Zel

McKinley’s Beauty

Awards:

ALA Notable Book for Children

On YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens list

Utah Book Award

Subjects: Fairy-tales, slavery, heroes, magic

Series information:

Calamity Jack 

Hunger Games

Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. Scholastic press, 2008. Tr. $17.99, ISBN 978-0439023481.  

What’s it about?

The corrupt Capitol of Panem hosts an annual televised fight to the death, and its participants are 24 children from surrounding districts. When Katniss Everdeen’s little sister Prim is one of the unlucky ones chosen in the annual lottery, Katniss volunteers to take her place, knowing she must out-wit and out-maneuver the game’s creators in order to survive.

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Hunger Games takes place in an imagined future United States, known as Panem. The novel opens when the 74^th annual Hunger Games are looming. Sixteen-year-old protagonist Katniss Everdeen of District 12 (the Appalachian region) is nervous about being reaped. If her name is drawn, she becomes one of 24 tributes, and must kill . . .  or be killed. Only one tribute will survive, and the odds are against her. Wealthier districts train career tributes who usually win these televised Games. District 12 tributes are long shots. When Katniss’s little sister Prim’s name is drawn, Katniss volunteers to take her place. To her horror, the other tribute is a fellow student, Peeta, a baker’s son who gave her bread when her family was facing starvation. In order to survive, Katniss will have to kill him and 22 others—unless she is able to outwit the game’s creators with the help of her clever, self-destructive mentor Haymitch, who knows how to survive the Games.

The power of Hunger Games stays with the reader hours, days, weeks, months, and years after reading. This is the kind of book people keep re-reading. This is the kind of book that opens the mouths of normally reticent individuals, who eagerly tell strangers to devour this disquieting dystopian novel. The plot is wonderfully crafted, and the arena is horrifyingly imagined. The characters, particularly the main characters Katniss, Haymith and Peeta are extremely well-drawn, flawed and believable, as are many of the secondary characters such as Gale and Rue. Critics mention the similarities of Collins’s plot to other books and series, particularly Battle Royale, but Collins takes the premise of a corrupt, totalitarian government using citizens harming citizens to keep its people in line and creates a powerful work that strays far from the bloated, over-written Battle Royale. Collins’s world-building and writing skills were apparent from her earlier Overlander Chronicles, so it comes as little surprise that she would turn out such a masterful twist on the dystopian plot staple of individuals versus a corrupt government.  

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Survivalist/Adventure

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 6-12, adults

Subjects: Government Corruption, Reality Shows, Person vs. Society, Survival, Brutality

Awards:

Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year (2008)

New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2008

 Cybil Winner (2008)

On School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2008 list

Booklist Editor’s Choice (2008)

California Young Reader Medal (2011)

Read-alikes:

Grant’s Gone series

Ness’s Chaos Walking trilogy

Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It trilogy

Roth’s Divergent

Orwell’s 1984

Huxley’s Brave New World

Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

Battle Royale (not recommended; very poor execution)

Series information:

Catching Fire (2009)

Mockingjay (2010)

View my book trailer for Hunger Games

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Arthur A. Levine, 1999. Tr. $ 24.99,  ISBN 978-0439064866

What’s it about?

In the sequel to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, students of Muggle-born parents have been attacked—and petrified-- by a mysterious and powerful sorcerer who reopened the Chamber of Secrets, which holds a deadly beast. Harry finds himself (and Hagrid) under suspicion, and works with Ron and Hermione to figure out who (or what) is behind these attacks.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets opens with Harry spending his summer with the horrible Dursleys. Things begin to look up when Harry is brought to the Weasley’s home to spend the remainder of the summer.  When Harry and Ron are unable to board the train to Hogwarts, they decide to steal the Weasley’s enchanted car and fly to school. They crash into a valuable tree, the Whomping Willow, and are nearly expelled. More trouble is brewing, however. Threatening messages begin to appear, warning students that Chamber of Secrets has been opened and the heir of Slytherin will kill Muggle-born students. These are hardly empty threats—Muggle-born pupils are attacked, and petrified. Harry finds himself under suspicion, and when he, Ron and Hermione investigate the Chamber of Secrets, (breaking countless school rules, of course) they again face a deadly struggle.

The books in the Harry Potter series become more sophisticated as the characters (and Harry Potter fans) get older.  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets casts Harry in a different light by creating doubt among his friends in regard to his intentions. The readers ask themselves as well: is Harry the heir of Slytherin? His ability to speak Parseltongue is disturbing, recalls the sorting hat’s comment that Harry would do well in Slytherin. The attacks on the Muggle-born, as well as the attitudes of Slytherins (particularly the Malfoys), is the wizard-world equivalent to racism. Wizards who are Muggle-born are considered inferior by some to those born into wizarding families. Characters with a strong moral fiber, of course, don’t buy into this and find the use of the epithet “Mudblood” despicable. This book is darker in tone than Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, but is not without humor, particularly in the situations involving the character of Gilderoy Lockhart, who is the new instructor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Lockhart is a self-aggrandizing author of several books that detail his heroics without a smidge of humility. However, it quickly becomes clear that Lockhart has very little skill or knowledge of magic, and probably fabricated the majority of his heroics. His “healing” of Harry’s broken arm is hilarious as well as disturbing. Instead of mending the bones, Lockhart removes them, and comments “The point is, the bones are no longer broken.”  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets contains a satisfying mix of mystery, humor, and fantasy that ends with an unexpected twist. The conclusion is a bit too pat, and the book’s arc is very similar to the first book. Still, this is a diverting read with plenty to enjoy.  

Genre: Fantasy

Reading level: 7^th grade

Interest level:  Grades 4-9

Subjects: Wizards, Magic, Boarding School, Good vs. Evil

Awards:

ALA Notable Book for Children

Children’s Book of the Year British Book Award

Booklist Top Ten Fantasy Novels for Youth

Read-alikes:

For children: Collins’ Gregor the Overlander series

Dahl’s BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, & Matilda

Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series

For adults:

Grossman’s The Magicians

Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series

Many Harry Potter fans also enjoy the TV shows Dr. Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Series information:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Companion books:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Quidditch Throughout the Ages

Tales of Beedle the Bard