Son (The Giver, #4)

by Lois Lowry

there would be no way for anyone to get caught in the act of wondering, Claire thought. It was an invisible thing, like a secret.

No one else seemed to feel this kind of passionate attachment to other humans. Not to a newchild, not to a spouse, or a coworker, or friend. She had not felt it toward her own parents or brother. But now, toward this wobbly, drooling toddler—

She would die, Claire realized, before she would give up the love she felt for her son.

“Only thirteen. But we was barefoot and flower-strewn and foolish with first love.”

“He is Evil. I don’t know how else to describe it. He is Evil, and like all evil, he has enormous power. He tempts. He taunts. And he takes.

“You won’t ever know what that’s like, to love someone. In a way, I pity you. But I hope you starve.”