The Giver by Lois Lowery grew on me.

When I first read The Giver, I did not like the book. I deemed it weird. After teaching the book, I developed an appreciation of it. At the ceremony for twelves, students are assigned their adult jobs. One student, Asher, was thanked for his childhood. I think all our children should hear this. The joy of watching young children find delight in so many things never ends. Finding a sparkly rock, catching a lightning bug and licking icing from a beater are all memory moments from a childhood. Since this is graduation season, I know many have memories of their young person’s youth and perhaps will thank the graduate for the happiness they brought.

The controlled community in The Giver does not allow color. People don’t see color and they don’t have music. They also don’t birth their own children. I said it was a weird society, but it’s truly awful. The government took away the people’s freedom to an unimaginable degree. Fortunately, the main character, Jonas, escaped with a little one and found a community where they saw color and heard music.

Today there is a lot of discussion and fear about what the government is doing. There is fear of losing our basic freedoms. We just remembered those who died fighting for our freedom and I pray that we won’t lose ours to government officials who think they know better than the people who elected them. I continue to pray for America and encourage others to do so too.