The Giver

I have such a complicated relationship to this book that I don't believe a star rating is even meaningful in my case. I read The Giver three times as a child and read the Spanish translation as an adult. I recall being in the fifth grade and devouring Lowry's novel in a single night, immediately recognizing it as my then-favorite book. I owe a lot to The Giver, especially my appreciation for books that speculate about future societies. While some aspects of the story now seem illogical (or conversely, too easily predictable), the book's emotional beats hit even harder now that I have a bit more experience with life. However, with an adult perspective, I can also retrospectively identify certain ways that the book actually harmed me as a child. Without getting into too much personal detail, if my child were to read this book, I would make sure to have a discussion about the differences between psychiatric drugs in the book and in real life. I would also make it clear that the existence of joy doesn't justify suffering, nor does it invalidate a society's attempts to alleviate that suffering. I don't think that Lowry necessarily intended to send harmful messages on either of these topics, but at the end of the day, this is a children's book, and the way it impacts children is important to consider.

A flawed but tremendously impactful work that changed me, both for better and for worse.