The story lives on

At a TLA many moons ago, I scored an ARC of THE GIVER by Lois Lowry. My colleagues and I read it aloud as we traveled back from TLA to Houston. We managed to finish all but the last 3 or 4 chapters. All of us were mesmerized. We new then that this was one of those touchstone books, a book that would not only garner accolades, but a book that would change the landscape of literature for kids. Of course, we were dead on (such smartypants we were back then). And now, Lowry gives us one last gift: the final book in THE GIVER saga. I read this one from cover to cover in one day. So will millions of others, I suspect.




SON (Houghton Mifflin, October 2012) brings the story first told in THE GIVER and then in GATHERING BLUE and MESSENGER full circle. Here is the back story of Gabriel, the child Jonas brought along with him as he fled his controlled society. Three sections: BEFORE, BETWEEN, BEYOND remind readers of the society found in The Giver and in Gathering Blue now through the eyes of Claire, the birthmother of Gabriel. One last thing remains to be done in order to assure that the society Jonas and Kira have fashioned continues to thrive: evil must be defeated. How Lowry reveals the hidden evil and how that evil might be vanquished makes for an absorbing read, one more than worthy of following in the footsteps of THE GIVER. <326>