Jumana AAA asked Lois Lowry:

I love The Giver so much, I also read it in one day! Thank you for this amazing book! My question is: how old is Jonas? In the book it captured him as 11 year-old. But somehow I read in a quiz by someone here in Goodreads that said he is 19? Also the movie says that he is around 18. But I thought they just changed in the movie it for some reasons. I am confused and I want to be sure from the author. Thanks.

Lois Lowry They made the kids older in the film in order to enlarge and expand the audience. It works well, I think; they still seem very innocent, vulnerable, almost chldlike

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Race is briefly addressed as "sameness" in The Giver. I wonder how this sameness was achieved. I think the entire race was Caucasian, since Jonas makes a reference to red hair and light eyes. What happened to allow this to occur? Eugenics? Genocide?

Beth asked Lois Lowry:

I first read The Giver as a fifth grader (sometime around 2001) and I have always pictured the community as a sort of fifties suburb, so I was kind of surprised when the movie was filled with futuristic technology (although given they had the technology to erase memory and emotion, it makes sense). Did you always see the community as technologically advanced, or was that an evolution of your original vision?

mk sterud asked Lois Lowry:

Do you have any pets?

All answers from Lois Lowry…

Lois Lowry

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Race is briefly addressed as "sameness" in The Giver. I wonder how this sameness was achieved. I think the entire race was Caucasian, since Jonas makes a reference to red hair and light eyes. What happened to allow this to occur? Eugenics? Genocide?

Do you have any pets?

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