A Grandson, And “Son”

Hey, readers and followers, I just wanted to check in and apologize for my lack of posts over the past month or so. My co-worker took a three-week vacation, which has resulted in more hours for me, and at one point I worked nine days straight. Besides having a heavier work schedule, I also became a grandmother for the first time!

All that to say my time for reading and writing has been very limited, although I did recently manage to finish the fourth and last book of Lois Lowry’s Giver series, Son. Coincidentally, I received Son in the mail the same day my daughter-in-law went into labor. As I was getting ready to head out to the hospital to await the birth of my grandson, I decided I should bring a book to read for the potentially long hours of waiting, and grabbed my new book.

It wasn’t until I opened it up in the Labor & Delivery room and began reading that the appropriateness of my choice struck me. The first two chapters describe a young girl named Claire who, having been selected as a Birthmother for her community, undergoes a difficult delivery by C-section. After the procedure, the “product” of her delivery is taken away to be nurtured and then assigned to a suitable family unit. Claire never overcomes her sense of loss, and becomes determined to find her son and possibly establish a relationship with him. Son is divided into three sections, which are set in three different communities. The first part moved quickly, and the reader begins to recognize who the characters are in relation to the prior books. The middle section dragged a bit, with a little too much tedious detail about Claire’s decision and preparation for setting out to find her son, but the third part wraps up the story nicely. In this book, Lowry ties the characters from The Giver, Gathering Blue and Messenger together in a satisfying way. I do like the strong family ties that Lowry depicts in the last three books, an element which the community in The Giver was intentionally lacking.

A movie adaptation of The Giver was released in August 2014; the official trailer is available on YouTube. While I enjoyed the film and would recommend it, I was frustrated with some of the changes to the story and characters that were made.

Related Articles

• New York Times review of Son (www.nytimes.com)
• Focus on the Family’s review of The Giver Quartet (www.pluggedin.com)
• The Making of a Perfect World (www.ImAllBooked.com)