I think this book is just another example of society gone astray. How can we allow books that teach our kid's that it is ok to stick a needle in the head of a baby to kill. Wake up America we are losing them

I do not have children, however I am a nanny to 3. The oldest is starting 5th grade and will read the book, among others, for me this summer. This book has violence. It has sexual content. It is about a supposed utopian community that has some of the most horrible values that it makes you want to rip it apart in anger. That is exactly why we should let these kids read it. So there's violence. What 5th grader hasn't seen harry potter, transformers, iron man, or any other movie? Kids these days love action movies and shows where the good guy conquers over evil and does a little butt kicking while he's at it. But 5th graders also need to figure out things on their own, for example: what is good? what is evil? how can something that was supposed to be good turn out to be evil? The Giver helps them discover for themselves what they believe is right as they discover more about how the book's society works. As far as the sexual content, its a boy going through puberty. Kids know what that's like. They know the confusion and the uncertainty that comes along with it. Parents say this book steers kids away from talking about puberty, but if parents are open and available yet not pushy then their kids shouldn't have a problem just because of this book. I didn't think twice about how it affected my life when i read it...i only ever thought about how strange the parents in the book were to close puberty discussions. And those horrible opinions i mentioned before? Killing unneeded babies, treating birth mothers as lazy, killing the old when they are no longer of use. These are all ideas similar to our own world: abortion, euthanasia, the modern working woman v.s. june cleaver. kids discover these all on their own soon enough, with the world telling them what to think on this subject and that. but with The Giver, as i said before, they are able to make their own decisions and feel their own feelings.

I have never been so shocked at a children's book. This is not appropriate reading for a child under 15 and it is required in my daughter's 7th grade advanced reading class. After reading some of the reviews here and the young ages of the children exposed to the graphic details in this book, I am appalled. To describe the details of putting a poison filled needle in a newborn's soft spot "because his veins are too teeny-weeny" and then watching it twitch and jerk until it dies is not something to take lightly. Then the baby is wrapped up and put into a garbage chute. Yes kid's think the book is great because it is very shocking and instructors like it because the child will read it...but, PARENTS DO YOU REALLY WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO BE READING THIS???

There overall message about choices was good but there was a suicide and members who were no longer useful were "released" or killed. This process was vividly described with regard to a newborn baby. I found this disturbing for children.

I was appalled by a couple reviews on The Giver. People write reviews stating that this book encourages murder and glorifies the death of babies! It does quite the opposite. Yes, the book is very descriptive when it describes the death of a certain child. This description is not meant to glorify death, but rather evoke an emotional response AGAINST this treatment of babies who are flawed. The entire scene was created in order to show the absurdity of it all. This book is not about making kids EXCITED about the death scene. People who write that this novel teaches children that killing flawed people is acceptable are ridiculously mistaken and probably haven't read the entire book. I imagine they most likely skimmed two or three pages and decided what the book was about without any consideration of the actual content. This book teaches children the importance of every individual's life, no matter the flaws. It shows kids that getting rid of differences for the sake of a more peaceful community is not worth it. It teaches us all of the real problem...the inability of society to accept differences. The prescence of differences would not be a problem if everyone could accept them, and we cannot live a whole existence supressing our humanity, as this book brilliantly suggests.

From now on I am previewing books my daughter reads in the future. Had I known the severity of the detail of the infants death I would never have let my daughter continue it. As a result of it, she coincidently vomited in class after reading that particular part. It is not her fault nor can she help her heightened sensitivity to the frailties of life and mortality. I urge parents to preview what their children read, especially if you have an ultrasensitive child like mine.

This site is not looking at the content if it thinks this book is OK for 11 year olds/5th graders. The 2 objectionable parts are sex and infanticide. Sex: This is not appropriate imagery for 11 year olds to read: “”I wanted her to take off her clothes and get into the tub. I wanted to bathe her… The wanting. I knew that she wouldn’t. and I think I knew that she shouldn’t. But I wanted it so terribly. I could feel the wanting all through me.” The dream had felt pleasurable. Though the feelings were confused, he thought that he has liked the feelings his mother had called Stirrings. He remembered that upon waking, he had wanted to feel the Stirrings again.” Infanticide: One passage describes infanticide performed on a "less than adequate" baby: "He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty. . . . As he continued to watch, the newchild [sic], no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. He [sic] head fell to the side, his eyes half open. Then he was still." Disturbing for me as a parent and not appropriate for 5th graders.

My son was assigned this book for his 5th grade reading group, and I had some concerns after reading some reviews on this site. So, I read it myself to see. I thought it was a great book, but I am glad I read it and discussed it with him, because it is certainly thought provoking and sophisticated for his age. My 10 year old was disturbed by the scene near the end of the book, where he discovers that all the "releasing" that has been going on with imperfect citizens and old people is actually killing. This is a perfect opportunity to get your child thinking about the rights of an individual vs. the needs of the community, because these are very real issues that we face today. It also provides lots of opportunity to discuss the idea of individual freedom, and what consequences it has on a society. I liked being able to plant the seeds that will lead to hopefully more sophisticated examination of these ideas in my child as he matures. As for sexual content, the scenes of children bathing the older folks were not sexual at all. They do coincide with the first stirring of sexual feelings in the boy, but not for the older people. My goodness, people are sensitive about this topic. My son didn't even get that it was a sexual stirring. He thought it was a bad dream, since the adults gave him pills to make it go away. Overall, I liked the book, and it is iffy for 5th graders. You would certainly want to read it too and discuss it with your child. If you are not comfortable discussing things like death or sex with your child, maybe you should have them skip it. But, on the other hand, maybe it would be good practice for you.

This is positively the worst book ever! This book is horrible for ALL AGE GROUPS! When I read this book I literally became physically sick to my my stomach. The characters are UNIMAGINATIVE, and generally unlikable. Of course somebody could say that the plot is good but, I beg to differ the plot is simplistic and could be easily understood by a toddler who had learned how to speak. So READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! You WILL REGRET IT! This book has no philosophical values and is just plain bad. I do however have some recommendations for any aged reader, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Enders Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, children of the mind, Ender in exile, Memory of Earth, Call of earth, Ships of earth, earthfall, earthborn, The Merlin series by T.A. Barron, and most of all Lord of the Rings. So please read these good books and not the giver.