The Giver
In an orderly future community where pain, color, weather, and memory have all been engineered away in favor of Sameness, twelve-year-old Jonas is assigned the rarest and most feared role in his cohort: Receiver of Memory. Once a week he meets with the old man who carries every memory the community has given up, from sleigh rides to sunburns to warfare and famine, and slowly, by touch, those memories are transferred to Jonas. What he learns reshapes his sense of his parents, his friends, and the cheerful language his world uses to disguise what it does to the unwanted. Lois Lowry's 1993 Newbery winner remains one of the defining middle-grade dystopias and a quietly radical book about the cost of a society that has chosen comfort over truth.
Themes & atmosphere
Books in conversation with The Giver
A few of the closest reads from our full list.
What you might want to know about The Giver
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In a perfectly ordered community without color, weather, or pain, twelve-year-old Jonas is selected at the Ceremony of Twelve to be the new Receiver of Memory. As an old man called the Giver passes him memories of the world before, Jonas begins to question his society.
Yes. The Giver is one of the most frequently challenged books in American schools, with objections citing themes of euthanasia, suicide, and infanticide. It remains widely taught and is on many recommended reading lists.
The Giver is followed by three companion novels: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. The four books form what Lois Lowry calls The Giver Quartet. Each book can be read on its own, but Son ties the threads together.
The Giver is commonly taught in upper elementary and middle school, typically grades 5 through 8. The protagonist is 12, and the language is accessible, but the themes are serious and benefit from classroom or family discussion.
Yes. A film adaptation directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Jeff Bridges, Brenton Thwaites, and Meryl Streep was released in 2014. The film changes some plot elements and ages up the protagonist.
The Giver was written by Lois Lowry, published in 1993 by HMH Books for Young Readers.
The Giver is 200 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Giver takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
The Giver is a standalone novel by Lois Lowry, not part of a series.
The Giver is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.