The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry, Houghton Mifflin Company 1993

     What do you do when your entire civilization has no collective memories? Lois Lowry presents one idea: you give the collective memories to one person who remembers for everyone else.
     In this post-apocalyptic world, society is structured and organized to survive. Jonas lives with his parents, goes to school with friends, and takes his vitamins like a good child. But life begins to take on a new element when he starts to see flashes of something in his black-and-white world. Around the age of 11, Jonas goes through the Ceremony of Twelve where his skills and abilities are taken into account and, like every other child in the village, he is given the job that will be his for the rest of his life.
     As the ceremony goes on, Jonas' classmates each gain their assignments; simple and normal jobs like food worker and assistant in the childhood centers, but Jonas is given the mysterious task of Receiver of Memory.
     When he finally meets the current Receiver, Jonas is unsure what his task is. The strange old man lives in a run-down home outside the well-ordered community, makes his own food, and doesn't travel into town unless he must: a sharp contrast to what Jonas is used to, living in the town and getting food from a center.
     Over time he learns that the Giver is the Keeper of Memory, and the flashes of something Jonas has been seeing are more than just something wrong with his eyes, but color. Jonas is told the new job will bring him nothing but pain and isolation, but he finally really experiences life: happiness, love, rain, and sunshine in the memories of the community. But he also gets the memories of war, pain, and death. The Community has figured out a way to create sameness by isolating all collective memory in the mind of the Receiver of Memory; but while it protected them, the lack of memory inhibited the community's ability to experience life for real.
     Jonas begins to challenge what he's always believed, accepting that in order to experience pleasure you must also experience pain. And it is in comparing the two that you realize how powerful and affecting each is.
   Lowry's story includes concepts that may confuse younger readers, however they are presented in a way that doesn't challenge their understanding or enjoyment of the story. The Giver is aimed toward middle schoolers and has a relatable storyline, despite its post-apocalyptic setting. It is a memorable book, asking to be examined again and again with its cliffhanger ending.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, 1813

     Pride and Prejudice is considered one of English literature's greatest works. Elizabeth is a woman beyond her time. While her mother and four sisters are each absorbed in finding a man to care for them, Elizabeth Bennett wants her sisters to marry for love, or at least someone they can respect. When Elizabeth's goals for her sisters intersect with her mother's goals the five girls attend a ball and Elizabeth Bennett meets Fitzwilliam Darcy.
     Elizabeth's older sister, Jane, falls in love with Darcy's friend Bingley. But Bingley is discouraged from pursuing their relationship by Darcy, who cites Mrs. Bennett and her youngest daughters' behavior as unfitting for relations of a man of Bingley's standing. When she discovers Darcy's intervention in the relationship between Jane and Bingley, Elizabeth confronts him and he confesses his love--against his better judgement--which Elizabeth then rejects.
     Darcy's pride prevents Elizabeth from realizing the potential for a successful romance. When he overcomes it, she must battle her own pride to accept an opportunity her younger sisters fight for. She does manage to accept Darcy's suit, as the heroine in any marriage plot does, but Darcy must work for her affections.
     After Lydia, the youngest of Elizabeth's sisters, runs away to marry Wickham and much family trauma, Elizabeth finds herself pining for the man who pines for her. They marry and live happily to the end of their days.
     Austen's marriage plot is more than simply a story about weddings: it illustrates the nuances of class interaction during the Regency Era. This "Novel of Manners" displays the values of the society of the Bennett girls and its feature of a strong female character is somewhat unusual for an eighteenth century novel. However, this independent woman resonates with modern readers. Elizabeth Bennett is a woman written for modern times, making this a class for readers young and old.

The Queen of Attolia

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, 2000 Greenwillow Books

     In the sequel to The Thief, Gen has become not only a national hero, but also the Queen of Eddis's personal spymaster. Though he despises the job, he enjoys the hunt (and the power that comes from holding the king of Sounis at bay) and ventures repeatedly into Attolia's fortress. When Gen is captured, the Queen of Attolia decides to cut off one of his hands, a gruesome punishment, but one worthy of a thief.
     Gen is sent home, no longer a threat to either Sounis or Attolia. When he arrives he finds his home at war with her neighbors and his cousin, the queen, plotting to maintain the stability and strength of her people at the expense of the two nations.
     For a time, everyone worries about Gen's sanity. Eddis posts guards to prevent him from harming himself, and he is nearly imprisoned in his room. But part of it is an act: Gen continues his work as Eddis' spymaster and chief spy. He makes his debut in Sounis, sneaking into the megaron and stealing the king's Magus. Sounis is thrown into turmoil as the distraction Gen ordered destroys the navy and Gen himself rides away with the brains behind the operation.
     This small act turns the tide of the two-front war Eddis is engaged in, causing Attolia to look for help from some undesirable places. The Mede Empire hangs in the background, a shadow waiting to descend over the peninsular nations of Sounis, Eddis, and Attolia. Through some tricky finagling the Ambassador to the Mede puts Attolia in the position where she must choose between an alliance with Eddis, and an alliance with the Mede in which she would become a figurehead and the foothold for the Mede invasion.
   The story shifts from being narrated by and centered around Eugenides to a third person point of view. It has moments of gruesome violence, but is is a story about nations at war and trying to prevent further bloodshed. An appropriate age group wold be 13-15 years old, at the youngest, but even older readers can find a personal connection.

Hourglass

Hourglass by Claudia Gray, 2010 Harper Collins

     Bianca has decided to escape Evernight with Lucas, but their life with the Black Cross (the vampire hunting community Lucas comes from) becomes more and more difficult. Bianca requires blood to stay alive, and her substitution of pigeon blood for human is not working. Lucas insists on feeding her his own blood even though Bianca is adamant about not wanting to suck the life force from her love.
     The couple plan their escape from Black Cross, but Lucas' stepfather keeps a tighter and tighter watch over the group. As Bianca becomes weaker and weaker the two fear that her secret will be found out. When they finally make a break for it, the Black Cross has come across Balthazar (a vampire from the academy) and the two run away when Lucas' parents' backs are turned during the battle. But Bianca hasn't had enough blood and is dying. Balthazar escapes and catches up with them, only to find he is about to lose his friend. The former enemies begin to bond as the situation becomes more and more dire.
     While Lucas and Bianca's relationship is still following the lines of Romeo and Juliet they have moved from the puppy-dog love to a kind of romance that allows for their strengths and weaknesses to be a part of the relationship. They develop as characters separate from one another and deal with the challenges they are presented with. The story is written for a younger high school audience, but has elements readers of all ages can identify with.