Dear Lois Lowry,

It comes to my attention that you take the importance of individuality serious in your works of writing. Hatredness towards unique identities are a trending topic in today’s generation. For example, why is it wrong for certain people to like contrasting types of music than what is popular? Why is wanting to adore someone who may be the equivalent gender an abomination? Why are humans judged on the clothing they are comfortable with putting on their bodies? This category of cruelty is something that my fellow friends and I are extremely against and talk about frequently. All through school years, we were the party of people who were stereotypically called “outcasts” and “misfits”. Our display was the first clue that our peers used to define us. The clothes we wore, the music we would tune into, and the activities we took part in. We were more than that. We were more than just the social outcasts of our school. We also had to let people know that what we had such as our music, selections of color in clothing, and attitude is what makes us who we are and makes us different. Others who were not associated in our clique were some of the ones who wanted to be like the beloved crowd of the school. The actions of doing that strip you away of what really composes a person to be himself or herself. That’s the cause of what makes a crowd like certain things they declare as the right choices of what to like. I am proud to be divergent. I am also appreciative of who I came to be or who I will become.

Your book The Giver has inspired me in so many ways that words can’t describe. I am in eighth grade. I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) when I was just in kindergarten. The result to me having this disease is me having developmental differences in my brain that affects my controlling of attention, memory, concentration, etc. I have struggled through school for as long as I can remember. This was the reason I’m not very fond of school. Also because I didn't feel like i was acceptable or intelligent enough for it. After reading and working with this book, I advanced the way I view my English classes. I got to learn more about modern topics of striving for independence, individuality and fighting against prejudice. Arguments that I was born and raised into. This book of yours is one of my personal favorites because I got to learn more about what it really means to be your own person and the importance of being different.

The Giver presented to me a fictional side of the world that I never could have thought of in my mind. A world and or society without melody, color, intensity, and expressiveness really impacted me because those are far-reaching parts life that everyone needs to flourish in their own unique kind of culture. This novel is something that is and will be very memorable to me because it was the first book in school that I got read about altercations in everyday and future society. Studying this work of writing influenced me to let people and myself be who they or I want to be. The music, color, cultures that we are blessed with to this day are what makes us individuals. In my opinion, schools and students need more books like yours. Students need to be embolden by the idea of accepting people for who they are. Students need to be taught what future dystopian societies might be brought to us if we don't improve the way we act today.

One thing that caught my attention in the novel was that there was no war, fear, or pain. Factors that yet we have in the real society where it is not fiction. Things that I long for us not to have. I speculate that that was the only thing positive in the novel. As far as our society goes I think our society today is so corrupted which in a way associates with Jonas's society. This shows that the society in The Giver was perfect in a way but it was a foolproof corruption. Our society is corrupted by greed. In my state of mind, violence is what composes the dilemmas on earth, not what settles them. I strike against all ordinances, laws and institutions that continue the slaughter of reconciliation. I’m fed up to my ears, of old men thinking of wars, for young men to perish in.

I have dreams of wanting to become a writer and or author when I grow older. The books full of mind-blowing metaphors and mysterious storylines are what fascinate me about novels and writing. Your theme of composer astonishes me for many reasons. The fact that you can comprehend realistic fictional dystopian societies involved with modern, contemporary world problems gives me a stronger passion for wanting to be an author. I didn’t even know that this description of writing even existed until after reading your work. Your books have motivated me into using subjects that are meaningful to me and composing it with a fictional setting. The Giver has galvanized me into not only a more superior writer but as a more prudent person.

With Kindest Personal Regards,

Jenna R.