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What Members Thought
I picked this up because of the Newberry Medal it received. I'm glad I did. Jonas lives in a world of sameness. Everything is the same: the people, the weather, the days. There is no crime, no one different, not even any colors. Jonas' life changes drastically when he is selected to be "The Receiver." This position of honor entitles him to receive memories from the distant past, and burdens him with feelings for the first time.
Lowry's tale is reminiscent of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "A Brave Ne ...more
Lowry's tale is reminiscent of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "A Brave Ne ...more
Jan 25, 2010
Chris
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
youth,
classics,
fiction,
scifi-fantasy-paranormal,
dystopia,
series,
middle-grades,
young-adult
It's easy to see why this book has won so many awards. Lowry has created a perfect dystopic (oxymoron intended) where everybody's like if planned out for them. There is no emotional pain. There is also no love, no compassion, no animals, no music and no color. But 12-year-old Jonas has never known anything different and has no reason to question his life in the "community." Then he's chosen to become the next Receiver of Memories. Think Dumbledore's pensive, except that all memories of the past,
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I have put off reading this book most of my life...I have NEVER been a fan of Sci-Fi...and somehow I avoided it in school. It has been sitting on my shelf to read since I became a teacher because it is a book that is taught to ESL high school students...so finally, I forced myself to read it.
As much as I may hate sci-fi and Utopia books...I enjoyed this story (though the whole time I was waiting for something horrible). It is an interesting idea to create a world and have the students explore i ...more
As much as I may hate sci-fi and Utopia books...I enjoyed this story (though the whole time I was waiting for something horrible). It is an interesting idea to create a world and have the students explore i ...more
Somehow I missed reading this "back in the day". I enjoyed the story and am interested to see how the upcoming movie turns out.
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possibly my favorite book of all time.
This book is apparently a classic but I had never read it before. The author creates a believable future world in which sameness is required and helps the reader see value in differences.
