In beginning to write The Giver, I created—as I always do, in every book—a world that existed only in my imagination—the world of “only us, only now.” I tried to make Jonas’s world seem familiar, comfortable, and safe, and I tried to seduce the reader. I seduced myself along the way. It did feel good, that world. I got rid of all the things I fear and dislike, all the violence, prejudice, poverty, and injustice, and I even threw in good manners as a way of life because I liked the idea of it.
