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 

A Wrinkle in Time

L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1962.  Tr. $17.00, ISBN-10  0-374-38613-7

What’s it about?

The stubborn secret math whiz Meg Murry, her extraordinary little brother Charles Wallace, and their neighbor, the kind, athletic and intelligent Calvin O’Keefe band together to time-travel with three other-worldly beings, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which to  find Meg and Charles’ father Mr. Murray, a physicist who has been missing for nearly two years.  Will they find Mr. Murray, or will their dangerous journeys destroy them?

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Meg Murry is an underdog, ridiculed at school and dismissed by her teachers. She bitterly misses her father, a physicist, for almost two years, when he disappeared while working on a secret project. Her brother, Charles Wallace, is rumored to be sub-normal, since he didn’t begin to talk until he was four, but he is actually a genius with an uncanny ability to read people. The unusual boy has been making some unusual friends: mysterious old women (Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which) who have taken up in the haunted house in the woods. Charles takes Meg to meet them, and the siblings encounter a boy, Calvin O’Keefe, who felt inexplicably compelled to come to the haunted house.  Calvin instantly feels connected to the Murrays, and the three band together with the ancient (try billions of years old) Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which to find Mr. Murray. The travel, of course, involves a tesseract, a wrinkle in time. Their journeys lead them to fantastic and frightening planets and beings—some that threaten to destroy them.   

A Wrinkle in Time is an intense book you’ll read with bated breath—especially when the children arrive on the planet Camazotz.  The most significant theme of the book, and one that allows the book to have a happy ending, is the power of love to vanquish the destructive nature of evil.  In A Wrinkle in Time, even beings that we think of as frightening (such as Aunt Beast) show an astonishing capacity for love. Another theme young readers will enjoy is the power of intelligence and individuality to stand against the cloying pressure to conform. L’Engle tackles these themes with breath-taking world-building, beautiful turns of phrase, and lets the events unfold through the eyes of Meg, the most ordinary character in this book—and also the bravest.

Did you know?

A side-note about this book is the difficulty L’Engle had in getting it published. She had over two dozen rejections before Farrar, Straus and Giroux agreed to publish it. The main reasons it was rejected are, interestingly, its strengths: it’s a very unique story, a complex story, a tale of fighting evil. Publishers seemed confused about whether this was a children’s book or an adult book as well.

This book is intelligent and deep, so it isn’t surprising it is on the ALA’s list of Frequently Challenged Books. Many great books end up on this list. I’m fascinated that L’Engle, who is a Christian, has had trouble with critics who, despite the positive religious and scriptural allusions (which remind me very much of C.S. Lewis’ works), think that mentioning Jesus in the same context as great artists and scientists amounts to blasphemy (even though L’Engle had Charles Wallace shout out his name first). Another reason this book has been challenged is because of references to witchcraft! This book will turn children over to the powers of darkness, just like Harry Potter! This type of “logic” makes me wonder if the critics actually bothered to read A Wrinkle in Time.  What book were they reading? Witchcraft? Witches? Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which aren’t witches. Oh wait, Mrs. Which=Mrs. Witch. I stand corrected.

Genre: Science Fiction

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 5-9

Subjects: Time travel, Extraterrestrials, Conformity, Love, Family, Good vs. Evil

Awards:

Newbery Medal (1963)

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1964)

Read-alikes:

Stead’s When You Reach Me

Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia

Series information:

The Time Quintet

A Wind in the Door (1973)

A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1978)

Many Waters (1986)

An Acceptable Time (1989)

When You Reach Me

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Wendy Lamb Books, 2009. Tr. $15.99, ISBN 978-0-385-73742-5.

What’s it about?

When sixth-grader Miranda’s best friend Sal gets punched by a strange kid, the unprovoked attack somehow unravels their friendship. Shortly after, Miranda receives the first of a series of mysterious notes that hint at an impending tragedy she must help prevent.  

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It’s 1978 in New York City, and two childhood friends, Sal and Miranda, know the safest route to and from school, and know to avoid the Laughing Man, who rants “bookbag, pocketshoe” and likes to sleep under a mailbox.  Miranda’s world changes forever when her friend Sal is sucker-punched by a strange boy one day. After the unprovoked attack, Sal suddenly starts to shut her out of his life. Shortly after, Miranda begins receiving strange, cryptic notes that appear to be from someone who knows things he or she couldn’t possibly know.  Miranda is terrified, especially when her mother’s emergency spare key is stolen.  In the meantime, Miranda meets the boy, Marcus, who punched Sal “just to see what would happen.” Marcus is unusual. He sees her battered copy of A Wrinkle in Time, her favorite books, and begins a head-spinning argument about time travel. Meanwhile, Miranda navigates 6^th grade friendship drama (and discovers the impact she makes through small acts of kindness) and begins to put the pieces of the mysterious notes together. When something terrible happens, everything finally makes sense.

This thoughtful, powerful novel, which is in the form of a letter addressed to the note writer, unfolds quietly until its dramatic final act. Some readers may already know what will happen, but it doesn’t make it any less painful or poignant.  The way the story is told, in a non-linear fashion, adds to the mystery. Incorporating discussion about the plot elements of the classic A Wrinkle in Time adds to richness of this book. Stead weaves numerous subplots into this slim volume, and makes them all relate to the main plot. There is no unnecessary exposition.  There is so much going on that readers will probably want to re-read the book, but this is not due to Stead creating an obscure or incomprehensible story—readers will want to revisit the story to delight in how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, to marvel in Stead’s genius. This is a stunning, satisfying book that will appeal to a wide audience.

Genre label: Contemporary Realistic Fiction with a dash of Science-Fiction

Reading level: 4^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-9

Subjects: Latch-key kids, Working class families, Single mothers, Time-travel, Friendship

Awards:

Newbery Medal Winner (2010)

Read-alikes:

L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time

Snyder’s The Egypt Game

The Higher Power of Lucky

Patron, Susan. The High Power of Lucky. Illustrated by Matt Phelan. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006. Tr. $16.95 ISBN 978-1-4169-0194-5.

What’s it about?

Ten-year-old Lucky Trimble of Hard Pan, California, population 43, is worried that her French guardian Brigitte is going to leave her and move back to France, so she runs away in a dangerous dust storm before she can be abandoned. 

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10-year-old Lucky Trimble lives in Hard Pan, California (population 43) with her guardian Brigitte, her absentee father’s first wife, a young Frenchwoman.   Lucky’s mother died two years ago when she was electrocuted after a storm, stepping on some downed power lines while barefoot. Lucky, who already lost a parent through abandonment, fears that Brigitte is going to leave her too. Brigitte misses her mother, misses France, and has taken out her suitcase and passport. Brigitte’s leaving is a foregone conclusion for the observant (and sometimes very mistaken) Lucky.  It’s time for Lucky to take control of her life and call on her “higher power,” something she’s learned a lot about from eavesdropping on 12-Step meeting. Lucky receives three signs that let her know it is the perfect day to run away. She takes her survival pack and her beloved dog HMS Beagle and heads off to the Mojave Desert during a dangerous dust storm.

The Higher Power of Lucky has a quirky and loveable cast of misfit characters. Patron does a wonderful job of showing who these people are through their words, actions, and Lucky’s observations. Despite the sadness in the story, there is plenty of quiet humor.  Although the story is Lucky-centric, the secondary characters are well-drawn, such as Brigitte, who obviously cares for Lucky, but can seem a bit impatient at times; Lucky’s friend Lincoln, the insightful knot-artist; and Miles, her clingy  five-year-old neighbor who is being raised by his grandmother because his mother is in prison for selling drugs.  

It’s nearly impossible to bring up this Newbery Medal winner without mentioning the ridiculous controversy over The Higher Power of Lucky. The controversy, of course, was due to a clinical term for a part of the male anatomy, which was used in describing Short Sammy’s dog’s rattlesnake bite. Over four years after Scrotumgate, people still associate The Higher Power of Lucky with the word scrotum. Not exactly the desired legacy for this little gem. At least the derisive comments are aimed at the small minds that made a big fuss about the clinical term Patron used to describe where the rattlesnake bit the poor dog. Many critics have mentioned that using an accurate term rather than a crude slang term is preferable. Patron herself defended her choice of words, saying that she’d use the word again, that the word was chosen carefully and deliberately, certainly not gratuitously. In fact, after Lucky finds out that Brigitte is going to adopt her and open up a restaurant in Hard Pan, she asks Brigitte what the word means. Brigitte answers her matter-of-factly, and then adds,”You know if anyone ever hurts you I would rip their heart out.” I’m not sure if kids will make the connection between the question Lucky asked and Brigitte’s protective response, but they will take away Brigitte’s deep love for Lucky.  

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Humor

Reading level: 6^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-6

Subjects: Death of a parent, Abandonment, Small towns, Runaways

Awards:

Newbery Medal (2007)

Series information:

 Lucky Breaks (2009)

Lucky for Good (2011)

Read-Alikes:

Hannigan’s Ida B.

Wiles’ Love, Ruby Lavender

Character name/descriptions:

Lucky Trimble-a 10-year-old fearful of abandonment, who loves to listen in on 12-step meetings and tries to find her own “higher power”

Miles—a 5 year-old who loves cookies

Lincoln—Lucky’s friend, obsessed with knot-making

Brigitte—Lucky’s guardian, a parsley-loving Frenchwoman once married to Lucky’s father

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Aladdin Paperbacks, 1972 (c. 1967). Paperback $5.50, ISBN 0-689-71181-6.

What’s it about?

Twelve-year-old Claudia and her younger brother Jamie run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they encounter a beautiful statue of an angel that may or may not have been sculpted by Michelangelo. Jamie and Claudia are determined to solve the mystery of the angel’s creator, and uncover more than they bargained for.

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Twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid feels unappreciated and tired of her ordinary existence, and sets out to run away and teach her family a little lesson. She is a creature of comfort, however, so the place she runs away to must be beautiful and comfortable. The Metropolitan Museum of Art fits the bill. She needs money to pull this off successfully, and invites her nine-year-old, penny-pinching brother Jamie along. The two have fun evading the guards, finding places to sleep undiscovered, and blending in with school groups. When a gorgeous statue of an angel appears at the museum, enveloped in mystery, the Claudia decides that her new mission is to find out if the sculpture is indeed the work of Michelangelo. Their detective work eventually leads them to the doorstep of the uber-wealthy elderly Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the woman who sold the statue to the museum for a measly $225 dollars. The two uncover the secrets of the statue by telling the secret-loving woman their own secrets of how they managed to evade discovery at the museum.

Although this book is a light-hearted mystery, it is also a work of art. Konigsburg’ has crafted believable characters who behave believably in a rather implausible situation. This makes this story all the funnier. Jamie has the best lines: when he is nearly discovered by a guard when he’s hiding in the men’s room, the startled guard asks “Where did you come from?” Jamie responds: “Mother always said I came from Heaven.” This book is extremely funny, but it has a deeper undertone that sets it apart from other amusing adventure stories. Claudia’s deep need to escape the prosaic is not a typical reason that a child runs away. Mrs.Frankweiler is not a typical art collector, either. She treasures the secrets and stories behind each piece more than the monetary value. There are also some poignant moments. Mrs. Frankweiler, in exchange for the children’s secrets about their adventure, bequeaths Michelangelo’s signed sketch of the angel. On their ride home, the two children decide that Mrs. Frankweiler (who confesses to the children that she’d always wanted to be a mother) will be their secret grandmother.

There is an amazing twist to Konigsberg’s classic mystery. In 1995, a professor noticed a statue of a cupid in the courtyard of the French Embassy’s cultural services building, which is on Fifth Avenue. She became convinced that this was actually a Michelangelo sculpture.  She investigated the statue and announced that it was indeed an early work by Michelangelo. Konigsberg’s fans were stunned, and wondered if she’d known about this statue all along. She didn’t, but this story adds a new and special twist to this timeless novel.    

Genre: Mystery, Adventure, Humor

Reading Level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-6

Read-alikes:

Balliet’s Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3

Raskin’s Westing Game

Subjects: Runaways, Museums, Sibling Relationships, Art of the Renaissance

Awards:

Newbery Medal (1968)

ALA Notable Book

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Backwoods Feudin' in Lois Lenski's Strawberry Girl

Lenski, Lois. Strawberry Girl. Illustrated by the author. Harpercollins, 2005 (c 1945). Paperback $5.99, ISBN 978-0064405850.

What’s it about?

Ten-year-old Birdie Boyd and her family have moved to the Florida backwoods to grow strawberry crops on their new land, but their neighbors, the Slaters, led by the mean, hard-drinking Sam Slater, dislike them on sight and are set on a feud. Will these neighbors be forever enemies?

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Birdie Boyd is excited about her new home, a small farm in backwoods Florida. She and her family will be planting strawberries and other cash crops.  What the Boyds didn’t count on were feuding neighbors. Bitter because of the Boyds’ nice belongings, the Slaters make life difficult for them by refusing to keep their animals from destroying Boyd crops, cutting their fences, poisoning their mule, stealing one of their calves, and ultimately trying to burn their house down. The saving grace for the Boyd family is two-fold: when Mrs. Slater and her three youngest children become seriously ill, Shoestring asks Mrs. Boyd for help. Mrs. Boyd nurses the Slaters back to health, even though her family has been hurt by the recent despicable actions of Sam Slater.  Mr. Slater is luckily out of town, presumably on a bender.  While Mrs. Boyd and Birdie are helping out at the Slaters, a preacher stops by, and Mrs. Slater tells him about her husband’s drinking problem. The preacher prays for Mr. Slater and later counsels Mr. Slater, who does a 180 and finds God.

Lenski’s forward describes the basis for this story—firsthand accounts by Florida “crackers,” toned down somewhat for her intended audience. Despite this toning down, the impact of the story is incredible and almost unbelievable. Slater’s actions seem to escalate toward possibly murdering Birdie’s father. Only Mrs. Boyd’s selflessness saves these two families. After this happens, Mr. Slater examines his conscience and is rather suddenly converted. His conversion wraps the story up with a tidy bow, something that doesn’t jive with the rest of the story, which beautifully portrays the complexity of the back-and-forth struggles between these two families.  I’m not saying dramatic conversions don’t happen, or even that this aspect of the plot was wrong for the story. The pacing just seemed a little too abrupt toward the very end of the story. This is the only small flaw in this otherwise amazing book, which seamlessly and authentically incorporates the regional dialect and customs into the speech and action of its characters. Lenski’s illustrations are a delightful treat as well. They accompany, never overpower her stellar show-don’t-tell style of writing.  

Genre: Historical fiction

Subjects: Farmers, Neighbors, Florida backwoods, Strawberry crops, Agricultural workers, Alcoholism, Revenge, Feuds, Poverty, Religious conversion, Selflessness

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-7

Awards: Newbery Award Winner (1946)

Read-alikes:

Ryan’s Esperanza Rising

Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series

Caddie Woodlawn

Characters:

Birdie Boyd—Ten-year-old protagonist, a strong, hard-working girl who sympathizes with the younger Slater children’s plight.

Jeff “Shoestring” Slater—Twelve-year-old sometimes friend of Birdie, ashamed of his father’s drunkenness yet resentful of the Boyd’s success.

Mr. Boyd—Strong-willed head of the Boyd family, tries to keep peace with the Slaters initially, but when this fails, stoops to their level.

Mrs. Boyd—Good-natured woman who turns the other cheek when it comes to the Slaters, nursing the children and their mother back to health even after their father killed the Boyd’s mule and tried to burn their house down.

Mr. Slater—drunken, irascible neighbor who dislikes the Boyds and refuses to keep his animals off their farmland.

Mrs. Slater—Initially seems very bitter toward the Boyds, calling them “uppity” because they are better off than her family, later warms up to them largely because of Mrs. Boyd’s and Birdie’s unrelenting kindness.