I checked out the giver, when I spotted it, a middle school age girl said "that's a really good book!". It was all of about 3 hr worth of reading, about middle school reading level. Ironically, while it is a scary future-from-hell story along the lines of 1984 books we saw in high school (I think that and nazis were what we were studying instead of traditional world history), it is actually a very good picture of where Marc Tucker's School To Work and Early Childhood Learning projects will take us. Only adults who pass "high standards" are allowed to be parent units, all children are assigned jobs at graduation, the less bright are assigned to be professional birth parents, all families are assigned exactly one boy and one girl, excess births over "planned" rates are "released" and anyone who fails to meet "high standards" or goof up on the job after remediation is "released" This book came out in 1993, so it's too new for most us grown-ups to have been exposed to it in school, but this book could be the "1984" or "Brave New World" for the homeschooling mom generation. Date sent: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 17:21:48 -0500 From: Gail Davies Subject: Book "Hit List" for children > Today I was looking at books at the library and came > across a book I thought the loop might be interested > in. The title of the book is "Hit List" Frequently > Challenged Books for Children. It was in the > reference section and the author is Donna Pistolis. > It describes different children's books that have been > challenged by parents and what the parents found > objectionable about the books. Some of the books > mentioned are "The Giver", "The Cay" and "Scary > Stories to Tell in the Dark" to give a few examples. > The book was written for the Office for Intellectual > Freedom of the ALA and was published in 1996. > Send reply to: wa-ed-deform@egroups.com From: "John Oldfield" To: Date sent: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 11:49:20 -0800 Subject: [wa-ed-deform] Re: The Giver AMEN, Roxanne! As a teacher, my opinion is there are TOO many wonderful books to read to K-6. " The Giver" is depressing! The kids are not emotionally ready to determine that the sensitive loving "giver" is a butcher. No, too many wonderful books for that age to waste on this one. Please let the kids enjoy their childhood, it's all to fleeting. Sharon ----- Original Message ----- From: Roxanne Sitler > I have no problem with a parent's decision that this book is appropriate for > their child. However, there are many parents who whould disagree with this > assessment of the book. The graphic description of "releasing" the twin in > the book is ONE reason why. Deciding whether controversial reading material > is age appropriate is a very subjective decision. When it comes to > sensitive decisions about other people's children, it behooves us to > consider that it is not our place to dictate what is and is not "good". We > tread on dangerous ground when we take this position. > > RS > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: > To: > Sent: Thursday, November 11, 1999 8:30 AM > Subject: [wa-ed-deform] The Giver > > > > My daughter read this book in 5th grade. I read it with her. It is a > > wonderful book. It shows what happens in a society that loses all it's > > freedom to think for itself (which we seem to be coming too). It is > > the type of book that provokes insight and is not age inappropriate, > > considering how fast we have our children growing up in todays society. > > After reading this book, my daughter decided that abortion is wrong, > > and that people have a right to their freedom to decide what their > > lives should and can be. It certainly is a good argument against STW > > and several other educational programs that smack of communism, and try > > to mold and shape society. Everyone should be required to read this > > book! > > > >