In Jonas's community, kids are assigned their life's work at age twelve. When he is chosen to be the community's new Receiver of Memory, Jonas is turned over to a strange old man who calls himself the Giver and a demanding and often painful new life begins. This might be the book that really gave dystopia for young readers its start. You'll read it in an afternoon and be demolished for a week. Best to have the new hardcover, because you'll want to lend it to everyone you know.
— KateIt was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. Thus opens this haunting novel in which a boy inhabits a seemingly ideal world: a world without conflict, poverty, unemployment, divorce, injustice, or inequality. December is the time of the annual Ceremony at which each twelve year old receives a life assignment from the Elders. Jonass friend Fiona is named Caretaker of the Old. His cheerful pal Asher becomes the Assistant Director of Recreation. But Jonas has been chosen for something special. When his selection leads him to an unnamed man known only as the Giver, Jonas begins to sense the dark secrets that underlie the fragile perfection of his world.