Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

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Screenwise Verdict

The Giver is one of those rare books that actually deserves its classic status. It's deeply unsettling—there's no getting around the infanticide and euthanasia—but it's not gratuitous. Everything serves the story's central question: what are we willing to sacrifice for safety and sameness?

The book holds up remarkably well for being 30+ years old. Kids still connect with Jonas's awakening, still debate whether he made the right choice, still get angry at the injustice of his society. It's short enough that reluctant readers can manage it, but meaty enough to create real conversations.

The catch: this is absolutely not a hand-it-over-and-walk-away book for younger kids. The content is legitimately disturbing, and kids need context to process it. But if you're reading together or your kid is mature enough to handle heavy themes, this is gold. It's the kind of book that shapes how kids think about freedom, conformity, and what makes life worth living.

One warning: some kids find the ending maddeningly ambiguous. Be prepared for "Wait, what happened?!" conversations.

Age Fit

Best for ages 10-14, the sweet spot where kids can handle disturbing concepts but still need guidance processing them. It's widely taught in 6th-8th grade for good reason. Younger readers might struggle with the heavy themes; older teens may find it a bit simple.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

65

The book models thoughtful questioning and individuality, but depicts a dystopian society that practices infanticide (framed as 'release'), euthanasia of the elderly, and elimination of emotions. Jonas's parents are kind within their limited emotional capacity, and the protagonist makes moral choices, but the world itself is deeply unsettling. The pacing is deliberate rather than chaotic, appropriate for middle-grade readers wrestling with complex ethical questions.

Imaginative

88

Lowry created one of the most influential dystopian worlds in YA literature—a society without color, memory, or choice. The concept of a single person holding all human memory is brilliantly original. The book invites readers to question everything they've taken for granted about family, emotions, and freedom. It sparked an entire genre and remains thought-provoking decades later, asking readers to imagine both what's lost and what's possible.

Safe

55

This is where The Giver gets tricky. The book contains infanticide (Jonas's father 'releases' a baby by lethal injection), euthanasia, references to suicide/voluntary death, and the systematic suppression of human emotion and sexuality. These aren't gratuitous—they're integral to the story's critique—but they're absolutely not safe for a young child to encounter unexpectedly. The violence is clinical rather than graphic, but the concepts are disturbing. It's been challenged in schools for good reason, though it's also widely taught in 6th-8th grade.

Enriching

92

This is a Newbery Medal winner that fundamentally questions what makes life worth living. It tackles free will, the value of pain and joy, the ethics of a 'perfect' society, individuality versus conformity, and the importance of memory and history. Generations of students have grappled with whether Jonas made the right choice. It builds critical thinking, empathy, and ethical reasoning. The book has genuine literary merit and creates lasting conversations about what it means to be human.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Newbery Medal winner that's genuinely thought-provoking, not just assigned because it's 'good for you'
Introduces big ethical questions—free will, the cost of safety, whether pain is necessary for joy—in an accessible way
Short, readable, and moves at a good pace; kids actually finish it
Creates incredible family discussions about what makes life meaningful
The world-building is original and fascinating—a society without color, memory, or choice

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What to Watch For

The 'release' scenes—Jonas's father euthanizes a baby and the elderly; it's not graphic but it's deeply unsettling
The entire society is built on emotional suppression and control, which can feel heavy
Some kids find the ending ambiguous and frustrating (is Jonas alive? dead? hallucinating?)
Sensitive readers may struggle with the systematic dehumanization throughout

Conversation Starters

"Would you rather live in Jonas's community where everything is safe and controlled, or our world with all its mess and danger?"
"Why do you think the community decided to get rid of color and emotions? What do they gain and what do they lose?"
"Was Jonas right to leave, even though it meant people would get their memories back and feel pain for the first time?"
"If you could only keep three emotions and had to give up all the others, which would you choose?"
"What does the book say about why we need memory and history, even the painful parts?"

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