I can't belive how shallow the parents on this website are being. I am a 13 year old in my 8th grade year, and I appear to be more understanding than these adults are about this book. The Stirrings are NOT sexually inappropriate-remember that this book is for teens, who are going through puberty. My amazing 8th grade teacher explained the reason why the releasing of unfit children is understandable. "I worked in a Special Ed. class for about 3 years, and throughout that time, I met a child. He was disfigured and nobody liked to be around him. Everyday, he would ask me 'Why? Why would they let me live?' and I realized that he was in intense pain. It would be better to have killed the child, rather than selfishly having him live through life, unable to reproduce, unable to make real friends or live a normal life and constantly in pain." Although I don't agree with killing children, I can understand certain circumstances. Another point she brought up was: "If you saw an animal on the side of the street, it's legs squished to the ground because of being ran over by a car and its stomach bleeding, which of these would you do: Try to save the dog, or put it out of it's misery?" After discussion, our class ended our discussion, most of us deciding to save the dog. She wisely told us, "I would kill the dog. You know why? Because that animal is in PAIN. Even after surgury or whatever, it would still live with that constant pain, for the rest of its life until it died a painful death." This all applies to The Giver. This book is not 'Sick' or 'Inappropriate', its REAL. This book shows us dehumanization-when killing babies is a matter that is disreguarded as important and just a lifestyle. Birthmothers not given any glory is also understandable. In this 'perfect' society, they are taught about things at a young age and they believe it. Lois Lowry is not implying that giving birth is a job meant for the unintelligent, she's just saying that in this 'perfect' society, that is just how people think about it because of false facts. For the parents out there that believe that this book is teaching us children that it is ok to stick a needle in children who are unfit for society, THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Do you parents honestly think that after reading about releasing, we went to our next periods saying that all of the Special Ed. kids should just go die? Of course not. Please open your eyes and give this book the chance that it deserves. Don't be so foolish as to let your children miss out on this literary treasure. This novel is truely my favorite, and I'm sure that many more will come to love it. Keep on writing, Lois Lowry. <3

I hate Science Fiction, I hate fantasy. And its weird how my two hatreds came together and gave me an amazing story to read. My 7th grade class was assigned to read the book, and while everyone was falling asleep with boredom, I absolutely fell in love with the book. Chapter by chapter. This book can be quite confusing at points and some of the time I had to even ask my teacher what was going on, but all in all this book was great. I don't suggest it to MOST preteens considering my entire class, plus the other 3 classes that read it thought it was boring. It's all pretty much based on your maturity level.This book gives us an idea of how perfect our world really is. I am thankful that I read this book, it open my eyes to a lot of things I have never thought of before. This is surely a book you'll never forget.

im not excited about it! ITS SUCH A DISGUSTING SOCIETy! its such a good book when hes wtith the giver but it s such a disturbing community and how they put such a burden on one person! THATS MAKES ME UPSET. BUT I RECOMMEND IT. PEOPLE SHOULD SEE WHAT A PERFECT WORLD WOULD BE LIKE. ITS NASTY NO UNIQUENISS!!!!!!!

The book was not very well written. It had a poor ending that did not make sense to me. The book is sorta interesting, but not really.

the giver is an amazing book with surprises around every corner but some surprises are a bit disturbing for children.

This is the worst book I have ever read! This book makes no sense to me.

great book, along with its counterparts. however, if your child is not mature, read it first and decide what to do

I laughed, I cried, and I looked at life in a different way when I read Lois Lowery's The Giver. Jonas doesn't seem like an ordenary pre-teen, and he lives his life much differently then I do. But when he meets The Giver, his whole life is flipped upsidedown. I think that this book is very good, and should be shown to the world. There is warfare, death, sexual content, and some content that younger people may not understand. But out of all the books I have read, I think that The Giver is one of my Top 3. Lowery has captured me once again and didn't let go until I read the last words. Huzzah fo The Giver!

This is a breathtaking, beautiful, edge-of-your-seat, page turning book.this book is bout a boy living in a community with no choices. A group of people basically chose evryone's lives for them. It is a wonderful book for kids ages 12 - 15. I love all of Lowery's work. I have read almost all of her books and all of them are must reads.