Anticipating - Among the Hidden

I have not read this book or even heard of it until this class. However, when going on my book list for this class with my sister at the beginning of the semester, she told me that she had read it and that the author had also written another book I was familiar with: Running Out of Time. I read Running Out of Time in fifth grade as a class. I remember really enjoying the book so I hope that I have a similar reaction to this book.

I decided to look up this book, since it is the first one that I have not read, and discovered that it is the first in a series of seven about the Shadow Children. And I must admit that the name "Shadow Children" alone gets me kinda excited. It makes the story sound very intriguing and I am anxious to start it! For what I have heard from my sister (and in case I have not stated it before, my sister is a fairly reliable and knowledgeable source when it comes to fantasy novels) the story consists of children who are part of a community that is hidden from the rest of the 'real' world. Sounds like another dystopian novel to me...but never fear, I am starting to think of myself as a fan of this genre. Hopefully this book will reinforce this new found enthusiasm.

Analysis - The Giver

One thing that I found interesting about this dystopian world that Lowry created was the division of class. Generally in other dystopian novels such as 1984 and Brave New World there is a definite distinction between classes, but it is a division of people. Here it is more a division of age. Depending on how old a child is, they get to do certain things in the community. For example, a child does not get a bike until they are nine. In our culture, most children can ride a bike by six or seven. And for adults, when their children grow up, they go to live with the Childless Adults and then to the House of Old. Granted, there are more prestigious jobs than others, but the community very much functions as a whole. And the only real division seems to be among the children.

Perhaps the reason for doing this is because of the intended audience. We talked in class about this before, how the author has to be careful about their audience: do they make it accessible for children only or adults as well? I think, in this case, the reason that the distinction is more between the children is because the book is intended for a child audience who would better relate to the definite distinctions among age groups. Something that I remember from my childhood, is that there was more of a definite line between grades in elementary school than high school. In this way, I think Lowry helps the story become more relatable to her audience.

I know that Jonas' age was a major thing I noticed the first time I read the novel. Because I was Jonas' age at the time, I was really able to put myself in his shoes. I remember thinking that there was no way I would have been brave enough to go through The Receiver training.

Age is a major player in the story. It helps create the dystopian world and makes the story relatable to the audience. I admire the way Lowry uses a child's view of growing up to create an impact in her story.

Notable Moment - The Giver

After reading this book a few times, I have several moments that I find note-worthy in The Giver. I think my favorite is when Jonas starts to see the color red. Jonas first notices colors in chapter 3 when he is playing catch with an apple with his friend Asher. Jonas notices a "change" in the apple that he cannot describe. He notices it again while standing on the stage during the Ceremony of Twelve and for a third time in his friend, Fiona's, hair. The Giver explains the change to Jonas as seeing the color red.

One question that I've always had about not seeing color is, how does everyone else see? Do they see in shades of gray or do they see the colors and they just do not mean anything? It is very hard for me to comprehend not being able to see color or having to explain that to someone.

I find it really interesting that the government in this dystopian world felt the need to take color out of the world. Colors seem very harmless but, as the Giver explains, the can lead to other potential difficulties. Who would have thought that the colors blue, red and yellow could cause such problems?

Anticipating The Giver

I have read The Giver a few times. My grandmother, who was a kindergarden teacher for 25 years, first introduced me to the book when I was about 10 or 11. I read it again for school in sixth grade. And then I think I read it for a third time in early high school.

When I finished it for the first time, I was at my grandmother's house and I remember being very disturbed by a lot of what was discussed in the book. After my grandmother was a teacher, she became a consultant and would do conferences on different ways to teach. She wanted me to read The Giver so that she could know my opinion as a student of that age group. And being the available grandchild, I was chosen to be her guinea pig. She helped talk me through a lot of the harder issues and explained a lot to me. Despite the fact that I was a little freaked out, I really enjoyed the book. When I read it again in sixth grade, we had to write a paper on it. I remember feeling a little special because I had already read the book and was a little ahead of all my classmates. The third time I read it was for pleasure again. My sister and brother also had to read it in sixth grade.

I think Lois Lowry does a good job of writing for the preteen audience. I also read another of Lois Lowry's books in sixth grade that was very similar to The Giver called Gathering Blue.

I really like this book. I love the way it address some controversial issues for young kids: big ones such as dealing with authority and minor ones such as first loves. I am curious to see what discussions will come out of this book.

Analysis - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

As I said in my anticipating post, I had read this book before but it had been a really long time and I did not remember too much. Although I was proud of myself for remembering "an intense scene in the kitchen"! Overall I really liked this story. One thing that I noticed this time that I do not remember effecting me when I was younger was the story of what happened at NIMH. Reading it now, it seemed to me that the lab experiments seemed like a very mature topic for a children's novel. Not that it was hard to understand but the subject matter seemed like a more advanced one. Something that I wondered while reading this book was is it possible to teach rats to be able to read at the level that the rats of NIMH learned? The story seemed to be making a subtle hit at the problems with knowledge and how it can be abused. It really put a negative light on science and experimenting.

In compared to the other mice/rats book we read, I definitely enjoyed this one more. It was much easier to read. I looked up both books on the AR website and discovered while they are about the same book level, Redwall is twice as many points as Mrs. Frisby. This makes sense because Redwall is much longer and dense than Mrs. Frisby. I think that this story flowed much better and was easier to follow.

I feel like I have asked more questions than answers in this post...
So to sum up in a way: Mrs. Frisby > Redwall; Technology gets a negative light; I seem to remember a lot more from my childhood reading than I realized :)

Notable Moment - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

One moment that I found important in this story was when Mrs. Frisby seeks the advice of the owl who lives at the edge of the forest. Mrs. Frisby's son Timothy is very sick with pneumonia and she needs to figure out a way to keep him alive but also protect her family from the farmer's plow in the garden. It is the owl who tells Mrs. Frisby to go and ask the rats who live in the rosebush for help. This chapter also has some major foreshadowing because the owl only tells Mrs. Frisby about the rats after he learns her name. This starts the reader questioning what Mrs. Frisby's potential role is in the story. Maybe she has a bigger part than both her and the reader initially anticipated.

I did not make this connection until I started writing this post, but in Redwall, Matthais also seeks the help of a wise owl. Is this a coincidence or is does this say something about mice in children's literature?

Anticipating Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM is one of those books that I have heard about all my life and how fantastic it is. I have a vague memory of reading this book when I was a child. But I do not really remember a lot of it. The only part that I really remember is there was a scene in a kitchen that has some serious tension. But I may be getting that confused with another book. I read a lot of books like this one when I was younger.
I know that the book is another with animal protagonists like Redwall. I am curious to see how the two books differ. If I remember correctly, these animals have interactions with humans unlike the creatures of Redwall. I think this fantasy will be more like Harry Potter in the way that the "real world" and the "fantasy world" have no boundaries and interact seamlessly. It is one of those fantasies that the reader can imagine happening in their own backyard. I think I like these types of fantasies more.