It was a real treat to be here for Lois Lowry last Thursday morning. I read The Giver in my 7th grade English class and I still remember most of what went on in the book. I recall getting into an argument with my teacher who was resistant to the idea that Jonas and Gabriel could possibly be alive at the end of the book. I, on the other hand, remained true to just that idea while all of my classmates took her word for it. I remember being criticized in front of the class for sticking to my interpretation (I'm still a little bitter). So I was hoping for a chance to tell Lowry about my experience. She listened and said "Oh, I never believed they died."
We had a full house and then some! Several classes walked over for the event so dozens of kids were on hand for the unforgettable experience of hearing the words from the author's mouth. Lowry read from her new book The Willoughbys, which is sort of a satire of the old children's classics, featuring a nanny; an orphaned baby left on the front stoop; mean, uncooperative parents; and bright scheming children. It was a really good time and the kids asked a lot of questions about what inspired her to write certain of her other 30+ books!
Here are some pictures from the event.
1 comment:
I didn't read The Giver until I was an adult, and even then, it's an amazing book. As for the ending, I remember being very impressed by how well crafted the ending was so that whether the two lived or died really depended on how old the reader was.
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