"Son" by Lois Lowry

I fail as a book blogger because I had no clue that Lois Lowry was releasing this novel!  It showed up at my library and it took me a second to fully grasp what I was holding in my hands.  I thought that Messenger was the conclusion to TheGiver series (though I did once think that about Gathering Blue.  Oh, and that The Giver was going to be a stand-alone novel.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if a fifth novel gets released).  Anyways, I picked this up and pretty much didn’t put it back down until I had finished it.  Even so, I have mixed emotions about this novel. 

It is broken up into three parts and I loved the first portion.  It opens with Claire giving birth to her first and what will become her only Son.  Though she was selected to be a birthmother, the birth goes wrong and her baby is delivered via c-section.  She is eventually reassigned to another job in the community.  Though she has never had a moment with her child, she cannot stop thinking about him and manages to begin volunteering at the nurturing center as a way to spend time with him.  When I started this book I assumed that Claire was Jonas’ mother (having forgotten that Gabe also had odd colored eyes) so it took me a little bit to get reacquainted with the story once I realized whose story I was reading.  If you have read The Giver, then you know that Jonas and Gabe leave the community.  So what happens to Claire?  That is the focus of the second portion of the book and the third focuses on Gabe as a young man (trying so hard not spoil anything here!).

I was really into the first section of the book.  It was really interesting to see the life of someone else in Jonas’ community.  But once I got through the first third of the book I began to lose interest.  I’m not sure if it was because it felt odd to be somewhere in this universe that I hadn’t visited before or if the rest of the novel was lacking some of the love and dedication I found in the first three novels.  I certainly felt like the last section of the book was very abrupt.  I got to spend so much time with Clair and baby Gabe but so little time with Gabe once he was an adult and even less time with the conclusion of the novel.  This book easily could have been longer.  It felt like that was far too much buildup for that short of an ending. 

Even though I feel this way, I have to recommend this book.  The Giver is one of those that I feel HAS to be on everyone’s reading lists.  I am stunned when I come across someone that hasn’t read this book.  The advantage of this is I then get to recommend it to them (whilst hopping up and down with excitement and stacking all three-now four- books into their arms).  If you have read any of the books in this quartet (and enjoyed them of course), then you really should finish out the series.  And you never know, this series may very well turn into a quintet.

Happy Reading!
-Melly

"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry, read by Blair Brown

I first read Number the Stars as part of a class assignment when I was in the sixth grade. As I recall, I had already read some of Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik books before this (yet another series I recommended, especially to young girls who love sassy, spunky, and fun characters). Since that time, this is book that often makes it to my “to be read again” pile.

I recently listened to the audio version of this wonderful book. I was amazed at just how quickly I went through it (I'm used to audio books such as Harry Potter with more than three cds) but still enjoyed the story as much as always.

Number the Stars tells the story of Annemarie, and young girl from Copenhagen, growing up amidst the soldiers and other changes that came with the Nazi invasion of World War II. Annemarie spends her days practicing for races at school, playing paper dolls with her best friend Ellen, and making up stories to tell to her younger sister Kirsti. Though much has changed, it has little effect on Annemarie's everyday life until word comes that all of the Jewish citizens are going to be “relocated.” Ellen is Jewish.

Annemarie's parents immediately take Ellen in, pretending she is their own daughter and make plans to hide her from the Nazi's. Throughout the novel, Annemarie must conquer her fears to help save her friend and get her to Sweden.

This novel is a great novel for late elementary and middle school readers to be introduced to the history of WWII. Shortly after reading it, I discovered The Diary of Anne Frank which has since led me to read many books on the holocaust and other topics of the time. I would hope that other readers would use this book as a stepping stone to find more pieces literature, both fiction and non-fiction (and by listening to the audio version, families are able to easily share this book together) Readers who enjoy this book will likely enjoy Lowry's other Newbery winner, The Giver and it's companions Gathering Blue and Messenger.

Happy Reading!

-Melly