a series wrapped up

I loved Lois Lowry's Newbery winner, The Giver, when I read it. I was in my 20s and in grad school, and was left with this feeling that I'd just read something really important and beautiful, profound and touching. I walked away from it wondering about Jonas and Gabriel, and was left, like many people, pondering what came next...until this week when I read, Son, what Lowry herself called the sequel to her beloved, The Giver.

Son not only answers the questions about what came next, but also gives us a little more back story on the community that they came from, and more information on Claire, Gabriel's mother. I didn't want a clean, easy-peezy wrap up to The Giver, and was pleasantly surprised with how much she was able to avoid that (though there are definitely character tie-ins with the other books in this series: Gathering Blue and The Messenger--I can imagine it's really hard not to tie stories together and bring back popular characters). The ending was all Lowry, thoughtful and conversation inspiring, deep and pure. I loved it. Would I recommend it: ABSOLUTELY!

Ages: 12 and up

The NYTimes review.