The Giver

Alyssa’s class recently read The Giver by Lois Lowry.

While we were at the library last weekend, Lyss suggested we get the book so I could read it. She’d enjoyed it enough to want to talk about it with me. And can I just say how much I love that she recommends books to me? I mean, how awesome is it that when she’s reading a book (at school, no less!) she thinks to herself, “I think my mom would enjoy this.” What a great kid I have, right?

It was a quick read, I finished it last night. If you like dystopian young adult books, this is a good one. It was actually in the J-Fic section of our library, rather than the YA-Fic section but I think it’s a little mature for Olivia and her second grade classmates and was just right for seventh graders like Alyssa.

So I finished the book and went in to tell A and O….

Wait, this might be classified as a spoiler. So if you’re going to read the book and hate spoilers, don’t read any further. If you’re like me and spoilers are a way of life, forge on.
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I finished the book right after dinner last night and went to find A and O.

Upon spying them on the couch in the living room, I informed them, “You should both be glad you weren’t born in the same community as Jonas and Gabriel. If you had been, you’d both have been released by the time you were a year old.”

Olivia barely glanced up at me. She was playing with her tablet and so was in a technology-induced fugue state.

Alyssa, though, looked up and asked, “What?”

“You read the book,” I told her. “You know what I mean. Gabriel wouldn’t sleep through the night unless he was with Jonas. Because of that, he was going to be release. And you know what that means.”

I gave her a meaningful look.

“Oh!” she said.

“Yeah, so be glad you weren’t born in that community because if you had, you’d have been released because you AND your dreadful little sister were terrible sleepers until you were both over two years old.”

Alyssa grinned. “We’re also lucky to live in a place and time where love exists. That’s the real reason you didn’t ‘release’ us.”

I rolled my eyes. She’s got me there.

For the record, my nine year old woke me up three times last night. THREE TIMES! Need I remind everyone that she’s NINE freaking years old?

Sigh.

But wait…I guess I do have to point out that that kind of waking isn’t the norm anymore. It’s actually quite rare, which is perhaps why it’s stuck with me today. Well, that and because I’m tired, still…again.