By: Tanya,
on 6/14/2014
If, like me, you are slightly put out by the fact that your copies of the four books in The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry do not have matching covers. At least, this is the case if you bought the books as they were released (no pun intended.) The Giver was published in 1993, Gathering Blue in 2000, Messenger in 2004 and Son in 2012. You can buy them all in hardcover with the new covers,
By: Tanya,
on 5/20/2014
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - SON -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Son by Lois Lowry completes the quartet of books that began in 1993 with The Giver, followed by Gathering Blue in 2000 and Messenger in 2004. Son begins at almost the
By: Tanya,
on 6/27/2013
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry is in paperback! For me and other adult readers of children's books, The Willoughbys is a tasty little treat. For young readers, I am not sure what they will make of it. And it matters to me what they will make of it. The Willoughbys is, from start to finish, a playful joke, a parody that pokes fun at "old fashioned" children's stories while at the same
By: Tanya,
on 12/14/2012
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - SON -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Son by Lois Lowry completes the quartet of books that began in 1993 with The Giver, followed by Gathering Blue in 2000 and Messenger in 2004. Son begins at almost the
By: Tanya,
on 3/19/2010
For me and other adult readers of children's books, The Willoughbys is a tasty little treat. For young readers, I am not sure what they will make of it. And it matters to me what they will make of it.The Willoughbys is, from start to finish, a playful joke, a parody that pokes fun at "old fashioned" children's stories while at the same time referring back to them by name and character. Lowry
By: Tanya,
on 7/17/2009
With The Messenger, Lois Lowry completes her trilogy that tells the stories of three different communities and the individuals who make (and remake) them. Matt, the young explorer and rule-breaker from Gathering Blue is now Matty. In the village that he and Kira were born in, age was marked not by years and numbers, but with syllables added to one's name. A person who has lived to earn a four
By: Tanya,
on 7/15/2009
While The Giver, Gathering Blue and The Messenger are considered a trilogy, all three can be read as stand-alone titles. The Giver and Gathering Blue are linked more by Lois Lowry's thematic explorations of the idea of the individual and the community than they are by characters. In fact, there is only one fleeting reference to Jonas near the end of this book as the boy with eyes that are an "
By: Tanya,
on 7/13/2009
Winner of the Newbery in 1994, The Giver by Lois Lowry is one of those amazing books that tells a complete, compelling story and makes a provocative point all in less than 200 pages. The plot centers on a planned community in which personal freedoms have been traded for efficiency, security and contentment. The Community has been in existence for so long that the members of it are neither
Ivy wasn't at all interested in this book until I basically forced her to try it (based entirely on this review)...and she loved it. Thanks for another great recommendation!
Glad she enjoyed it! I think the book has a pretty narrow audience, which definitely includes Ivy. She is well read enough to get the in-jokes, I'd imagine...
Not sure why this appeared in my feed again today, but remembered that I had later read it aloud to both girls and found that it fell a bit flat. Definitely some good laughs (like you said), but the grown-ups are so over-the-top useless (and malicious) that I found it hard to enjoy -- I also hate Series of Unfortunate Events, so perhaps this is just a genre I won't much like. I didn't