98 Fun Facts About The Giver

Who wrote The Giver?

Lois Lowry also took the photograph on the cover: the face is Carl Nelson, a painter she once profiled for a magazine, who later went blind.

Which major children's literature award did The Giver win in 1994?

Newbery Medal night brought no verdict on the ending: accepting it, the author said readers hoping for the true interpretation would be disappointed, because there is a right one for each of us.

Which friend of Jonas in The Giver was smacked as a small child for saying smack when he meant snack?

Asher got a whack from the discipline wand each time the wrong word came out, a story the Chief Elder retells before naming him Assistant Director of Recreation.

In The Giver, what name is given to the plan that removed pain, strife and emotional depth from society?

Sameness also did away with color and with any weather that did not suit the crops, giving up surprise of every kind for a safe and predictable life.

In The Giver, which position is Jonas selected to inherit?

Receiver of Memory is a post for one person at a time, and the old man who holds it lives among shelves of books in a community where homes keep only rule and reference books.

In The Giver, at which annual event are children assigned their life's work?

The Ceremony of Twelve runs in birth-number order, and the Chief Elder passes straight from Eighteen to Twenty, skipping Jonas, before announcing he has been selected instead.

In The Giver, what job does Jonas's father hold in the community?

Nurturer means caring for the newborns, and he admits to peeking at the naming list early so that he can call one struggling baby by name.

In the novel The Giver, what unusual physical trait does Jonas share with the old man who trains him?

Pale eyes stand out in a community where almost everyone's are dark, and the sickly baby staying with Jonas's family has them too.

In The Giver, which normally forbidden act do Jonas's new rules permit him to do?

Lie, says the last rule on his list, and it shocks him so much that he starts to wonder whether every adult in the community was told the same.

What is the first memory the Giver transmits to Jonas?

Sledding down a snowy hill delights Jonas, who has never met snow, a hill or a sled: climate control ended the snow, and hills went because they slowed transport.

In The Giver, once Jonas notices red, which memory does the old man transmit to show him the other colors?

A rainbow ends the lesson in which Jonas learns that the flicker he had noticed in an apple and in Fiona's hair was the color red.

Which two painful experiences does the Giver pass on as darker memories?

Hunger and war come late in the training: on the battlefield Jonas lies with a shattered arm beside a dying soldier until he can bear no more.

What was the name of the Giver's previous apprentice?

Rosemary asked for release ten years before Jonas was chosen, and the memories she held flooded back into the community, which is why his rules forbid him to apply for it.

The Giver's failed apprentice turns out to be his what?

Daughter is a word he holds back until the escape is planned: he will not flee with Jonas because, once the community can bear its memories, he wants to be with her.

In The Giver, what is the name of the infant Jonas's father brings home at night?

Gabriel frets at night until Jonas, patting his back, accidentally passes him a memory of sailing, the first sign that the baby can receive memories too.

In The Giver, where do people in the community say the released have gone?

Elsewhere sounds like a gentle retirement, but a recording of his own father at work shows Jonas that release means a lethal injection.

In The Giver, why is one newborn twin released in the recording Jonas watches?

Identical members are forbidden because two people who look alike would cause confusion, so Jonas's father weighs the pair and sends the lighter twin to his death.

How do Jonas and the Giver plan to limit the search once Jonas leaves?

Fake his drowning, that is: the old man would tell the community the river had taken Jonas, but the boy has to flee early when he learns the baby is about to be released.

At the end of The Giver, what does Jonas believe he hears for the first time?

Music and singing rise from the lights ahead, and he thinks he hears it from the place he left behind too, though that may be only an echo.

In The Giver, what name is given to Jonas's mysterious ability to perceive what others cannot?

Seeing beyond first shows itself when an apple he is tossing with a friend seems to change in mid-air, which turns out to be his first glimpse of the color red.

In The Giver, how does Jonas try to hide from the heat-seeking search planes during his escape?

Recalling memories of cold is his only defense, and he shares them with the baby whenever a plane passes, though each one grows fainter the farther he rides from the community.

In The Giver, what does the old man share when Jonas asks for his favorite memory?

A family Christmas, with grandparents by the fire, teaches Jonas the word love, and when he asks his parents whether they love him they chide him for imprecise language.

The Giver ranked 11th on which American Library Association list covering the 1990s?

Most challenged books of the decade, that is: objections cited its treatment of euthanasia, yet the same novel became a staple of middle school classrooms.

Which family experience inspired the author to write The Giver?

Her father's senility meant he could no longer recall what had happened to her sister, who had died young, and she began to imagine a world where painful memories are lifted away.

The author of The Giver partly modeled its tightly ordered community on what kind of place from her childhood?

Army bases were home for much of her childhood, her father being a military dentist, and at eleven she lived in a fenced American enclave in the middle of Tokyo.

Which earlier book earned the author of The Giver her first major children's book medal, in 1990?

Number the Stars follows a Danish girl whose family helps her Jewish friend escape the Nazis, and it also won the National Jewish Book Award.

In which city was the author of The Giver born?

Honolulu was only the first stop, because her father's career kept the family on the move: New York came next, and after the war Tokyo.

In The Giver, what must Jonas start taking every morning once he reports his first Stirrings?

A pill every day, from the first Stirrings until the move to the House of the Old, keeps desire switched off, and Jonas later throws his away to hold on to his new feelings.

Which companion novel was published in 2000, seven years after The Giver?

Gathering Blue follows an orphan named Kira in a harsher, more primitive village, where the sick and the weak are dragged to a field and left to die.

In the second book of The Giver Quartet, what does an old dyer tell Kira about the beasts everyone fears?

There are none, the old woman says, and she dies soon afterward, leaving Kira to wonder what really killed the father she was told the beasts had taken.

What physical disability does Kira, heroine of the second book in The Giver Quartet, have?

A deformed leg should have meant being left to die at birth under village custom, but her mother refused to give her up, and a council member later argues that her rare gift makes her worth keeping.

In the second book of The Giver Quartet, what task does Kira's gift with thread earn her?

Repairing the Singer's robe looks like an honor until the yearly performance, when Kira sees the Singer's chained, bleeding ankles and grasps that the village's artists are captives.

Which boy from Kira's village grows up to be the title character of the third book in The Giver Quartet?

Matty is the only villager who can pass safely through the hostile Forest, so he carries messages to other settlements and hopes to earn Messenger as his true name.

In Messenger, what role has Jonas from The Giver taken on in Village?

Leader is what everyone in Village calls him, and his presence there settles the question that the first book's ending had left open.

In Messenger, a sequel to The Giver, which sinister figure lets villagers swap their deepest selves for whatever they desire?

Trademaster presides while the schoolteacher gives up his deepest self to shed a birthmark and win the woman he is courting, and villagers who have traded soon vote to shut newcomers out.

In Son, the last Giver Quartet book, what was Claire's Assignment?

Birthmother was her Assignment: Claire bears a son at fourteen, is reassigned to the fish hatchery when the delivery goes wrong, and finds that she alone in the community loves her child.

In The Giver, what is the comfort object that Jonas's little sister Lily takes to bed?

A stuffed elephant, which everyone takes for an imaginary creature; after a memory of poachers killing a real one, Jonas tries to tell Lily such animals existed, and she thinks he is teasing.

In Son, the final Giver Quartet book, what does the heroine give up to be taken to her child?

Her youth is the price, and the bargain turns her into an old woman on the spot, so that when she reaches the boy he has no idea who she is.

Which director of Patriot Games and Salt made the 2014 film adaptation of The Giver?

Phillip Noyce won praise for the look of the film, but critics felt it skimmed over the novel's ideas.

Which actor plays the title character in the 2014 film of The Giver?

Jeff Bridges also produced the film, a passion project he had spent years trying to get made before it finally opened in 2014.

Who plays the Chief Elder, the main villain of the 2014 film of The Giver?

Meryl Streep's Chief Elder is a minor figure in the novel, but the film builds the part up into Jonas's main adversary.

Which actor, later Henry Turner in a Pirates of the Caribbean film, plays Jonas in the 2014 film of The Giver?

Brenton Thwaites was 25 when the film opened, playing a Jonas who is a child in the novel but a teenager old enough to fall for Fiona on screen.

Which pop star has a small part in the 2014 film of The Giver?

Taylor Swift turns up only in a brief flashback, a much-hyped cameo that one reviewer wrote off as a thankless walk-on.

In The Giver, what is the first painful memory the old man gives Jonas?

A sunburn is added to a memory of sunshine at the end of Jonas's first day, and the next lesson in pain is a broken leg, after which he is refused anything to dull it.

Which band, fronted by Ryan Tedder, recorded the original song Ordinary Human for the 2014 film of The Giver?

OneRepublic's song reached fans first as a teaser, played under a clip of new scenes from the film, weeks before the soundtrack album arrived that August.

In the 2014 film of The Giver, what does Jonas steal to flee with the baby?

A motorcycle replaces the novel's bicycle, in a finale that swaps the quiet night escape for an action sequence with a drone in pursuit.

What visual device does the 2014 film of The Giver use throughout its opening scenes?

Black-and-white footage dominates the opening, and color seeps into the frame only as Jonas begins to see it for himself.

In The Giver, what ritual does Jonas's family carry out every evening after dinner?

The telling of feelings has Lily report her anger at a boy who broke the rules, and once the memories teach Jonas real rage he sees that what she felt was nothing of the kind.

In The Giver, which fruit seems to change in midair during a game of catch, hinting at Jonas's gift?

An apple changes for an instant as Jonas tosses it to a friend, so he takes it home to study. A loudspeaker announcement then reminds male Elevens that snacks are to be eaten, not hoarded.

In The Giver, which word do Jonas's parents dismiss as too vague to mean anything when he uses it?

Love is the word Jonas uses when he asks his parents whether they feel it for him, and they chuckle at his imprecise language. They suggest he ask whether they enjoy him instead.

In The Giver, what does the Chief Elder do when Jonas's turn comes to receive his Assignment?

She skips over him, calling number Twenty straight after Eighteen and leaving Jonas ashamed in his seat. Only when every other child is placed does she apologize and name him as the old man's successor.

In The Giver, which long-awaited gift does every child in the community receive on becoming a Nine?

A bicycle comes with turning Nine, a first taste of independence. Most children have already learned to ride in secret, one of the few broken rules that nobody bothers to punish.

In The Giver, what lines the old man's walls by the thousand, though other homes hold just three?

Books cover the walls of the rooms where Jonas trains. Every other dwelling holds only a dictionary, a guide to the community and the Book of Rules.

The Giver opens with Jonas uneasy about which coming month, when every child moves up a year?

December brings the annual Ceremony, when each age group advances together. The novel's first line is "It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened."

In The Giver, what does the community call babies not yet named and placed with a family?

Newchildren spend their first year in a nursery, known only by number. Fifty are born each year, and each is handed to a waiting family unit at the annual Ceremony.

In The Giver, where on Jonas's body does the old man place his hands to pass a memory to him?

His back is where the hands rest, as Jonas stretches out face down on a bed. Each memory passed on this way fades from the old man's own mind, lightening his burden a little.

Which friend of Jonas in The Giver has striking red hair and is assigned to care for the Old?

Fiona's hair gives Jonas one of his early flashes of color, changing for an instant as she walks away. Her gentle new job turns out to include training in how the Old are released.

In The Giver, the community's gentle word 'release' turns out to mean death by which method?

Lethal injection is what Jonas sees on a recording of his own father at work with a newborn. The discovery turns him against the community for good and sets his escape in motion.

Rejecting 'frightened', which word does Jonas in The Giver pick for his mood as the ceremony nears?

Apprehensive is the word he lands on, after deciding that real fear was what he felt a year before. Careful word choice is drilled into every child, and sloppy language draws quick correction.

In The Giver, what do loudspeakers order everyone to do when a stray aircraft flies over?

Go inside at once was the order, and Jonas remembers how frightening the silent, waiting community looked. The trainee whose navigation error caused the scare was then released, the gravest penalty there is.

In The Giver, where does Jonas's mother hold a prominent post that preoccupies her at home?

The Department of Justice is where she rules on citizens who break the rules. One evening she is upset by a repeat offender, knowing that a third offense would mean his release.

In The Giver, which Assignment goes to Jonas's best friend, who often muddles his words?

Assistant Director of Recreation suits a boy whose talent is games. The Chief Elder teases him on stage about his slips of the tongue before handing over the job.

In The Giver, what is the limit on children for every family unit in the community?

One boy and one girl is the allowance for every family unit. Mother reminds Jonas's sister of it when she asks to keep a baby, and the family must later promise not to grow attached to their night-time guest.

In The Giver, in which building does Jonas help bathe a talkative woman named Larissa?

The House of the Old is where the community's eldest spend their last years in comfort. Larissa tells Jonas about a departure party held there that morning, though nobody knows what follows it.

In The Giver, which calming memory does Jonas pass by accident to the restless baby in his room?

Sailing on a bright, breezy day drifts out of Jonas as he pats the fretful infant, who settles at once. Jonas keeps the incident secret, having just learned he can give memories as well as receive them.

In The Giver, which exaggerated word must Jonas never say when he just wants a meal?

Starving is the banned word, because no one in the community has ever truly starved and saying so would be untrue. The memory comes to Jonas as he puzzles over the strange instructions for his training.

In The Giver, which quality does the Chief Elder say Jonas lacks for now but will gain in training?

Wisdom is the one listed trait Jonas has yet to acquire. The Chief Elder says he already shows intelligence, integrity and courage, and that his training will supply the rest.

In The Giver, what name does the community give the system that did away with snow and sunshine?

Climate Control ended unpredictable weather because snow slowed farming and made transport hard. Hills were flattened for the same reason, leaving a landscape with no surprises.

In The Giver, which rule does Jonas's father admit breaking out of concern for a struggling baby?

Peeking at his name on the list for the next naming ceremony lets the father call the infant by it in private. He hopes that being called something other than a number will help the boy thrive.

In The Giver, why must Jonas flee the community two weeks earlier than he and the old man planned?

The baby faces release the very next morning, after crying all night at the nursery. Jonas slips away after dark with the child, leaving no time to collect the food and memories of strength he was promised.

In The Giver, why does the old man refuse to escape with Jonas and insist on staying behind?

To help people cope with the flood of returning memories, he chooses to remain. He recalls the chaos ten years earlier, when a few weeks of memories escaped and nobody guided the community through them.

In The Giver, which injury in a memory leaves Jonas begging for the pain relief his rules deny him?

A broken leg, from a fall at speed, is far worse than the mild hurts he was given before. He goes home still aching, forbidden to tell his family, and sees that none of them has ever known pain.

In The Giver, how was the first Caleb lost before a new baby was given his name?

He fell into the river as a small boy, a rare accident in a place built for safety. The whole community chanted his name ever more softly until it faded, then murmured it louder to welcome his replacement.

In The Giver, the old man says his former spouse now lives with which group of citizens?

The Childless Adults are older citizens whose children have grown, so they are no longer needed as a family unit. Later still they pass into the care of the Old.

In The Giver, what must each member of Jonas's family describe aloud at the morning meal?

Their dreams are shared and discussed every morning. The ritual lets parents watch for anything unusual, though Jonas seldom dreams and usually has little to add.

In The Giver, what does the audience chant after the Chief Elder says sorry for alarming them?

"We accept your apology" is the standard response to any apology in the community. Jonas's class recites the same words in unison when a classmate apologizes for arriving late.

In The Giver, with which phrase does the Chief Elder close each child's Assignment on stage?

"Thank you for your childhood" marks the moment each youngster starts adult training. After that day age is no longer counted, and people simply get on with their work.

In The Giver, what does the wall speaker in the old man's room have that no other speaker does?

An off switch lets the old man silence a loudspeaker that stays permanently on in every other room. Jonas is astonished, since nobody else in the community can shut out the announcements.

In The Giver, what do children begin doing after school at age eight to try out possible careers?

Volunteer hours are the one part of the day when children choose for themselves where to go. Those choices are watched closely, since they hint at the job each child will suit.

In The Giver, which word do children use as an insult although none of them knows what it refers to?

Animal is the word Jonas supplies when his sister describes rude visitors at the play area, though neither child knows what it means. Jonas meets real creatures only in memories and, later, on his journey.

In The Giver, the old man tells Jonas their role carries great honor, which is not the same as what?

Power is what the role lacks: the old man is revered, yet he is consulted only rarely and cannot undo the community's way of life. He says so when Jonas wishes snow could return.

Which former Dawson's Creek star plays Jonas's mother in the 2014 film of The Giver?

Katie Holmes plays the mother in a film its title star had wanted to make since the mid-1990s. He originally meant the title role for his own father, who died before work could begin.

In the old man's favorite memory in The Giver, which relatives does Jonas see for the first time?

Grandparents are unknown in the community, where the elderly live apart and nobody knows their parents' parents. The same memory teaches Jonas a feeling he has no word for until the old man names it.

Angry that nothing has color, Jonas in The Giver wishes he could choose between a blue or red what?

A tunic is the first thing he pictures choosing each morning. The old man points out that people allowed to choose might choose wrongly, and Jonas agrees, though the talk leaves him frustrated.

In The Giver, what is the name of the locked rooms where the old man lives and Jonas trains?

The Annex is reached through a door that an attendant must unlock, saying the lock is there to ensure privacy. Inside, Jonas finds furnishings a little more luxurious than in any ordinary dwelling.

In The Giver, what do children receive at seven as their first sign of independence?

A front-buttoned jacket replaces one that fastens behind, which younger children wear so they must help dress each other. That earlier design is meant to teach interdependence.

During the escape in The Giver, what does the baby point at in the sky and mistake for a plane?

A bird is the first wild creature either of them has ever seen, and Jonas knows it only from memories. Deer and wildflowers follow, and he feels simple happiness for a while before the food runs short.

As a girl, the author of The Giver lived in Washington Heights, a US enclave in which Asian capital?

Tokyo was her home from age eleven, and she slipped out of the fenced compound to wander the bustling Shibuya district. She later named those rides into the unknown as a seed of the novel.

Which feisty ten-year-old heroine of a humorous book series was created by the author of The Giver?

Anastasia Krupnik stars in a run of comic family novels that began in 1979, long before the writer's dystopian turn. Over nine books she grows from a feisty ten-year-old into a self-doubting thirteen-year-old.

Which 2020 animated film about four neglected siblings adapts a book by the author of The Giver?

The Willoughbys follows children who lure their selfish parents away with a brochure of deadly holiday spots. Ricky Gervais narrates the story as a cat.

Carl Nelson, whose photo by the author is on the first cover of The Giver, was by trade what?

A painter who lived alone on a Maine island, he impressed her with how deeply he saw color. He later went blind, and she wondered what it meant to lose colors he had cared about so fiercely.

In 2012, companies in Kansas City and Minnesota premiered The Giver as which kind of stage work?

An opera by composer Susan Kander was commissioned jointly by the two companies and later webcast. A one-hour play by Eric Coble had been doing the rounds of American theatres since 2006.

Which artist, adapter of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, made the 2019 graphic novel of The Giver?

P. Craig Russell both adapted and illustrated the comic version for the novel's own publisher. It followed a 2006 stage play and the 2014 film, so the story had by then been retold in most media.

In Messenger, the third Giver Quartet book, Kira's father goes by which true name in Village?

Seer is the true name he receives in Village, where everyone is given one on reaching maturity. He shares his home with the boy who once guided him to his long-lost child.

On the run in The Giver, what does Jonas turn into a makeshift net to catch fish?

A blanket belonging to the baby becomes his net, and the few fish it lands are eaten raw. It is nowhere near enough, and both of them grow dangerously weak.

In The Giver, which instrument is used to punish both small children and the Old for misbehaving?

The discipline wand delivers the smacks that teach small children precise speech. Jonas's red-haired friend later mentions that the same tool is used on the Old in her care.

In Messenger, the third Giver Quartet book, what gives travelers Warnings before turning deadly?

Forest marks certain travelers with Warnings, after which they cannot enter again unharmed. Only one young message-bearer can cross it safely.

During the escape in The Giver, which injury does Jonas suffer when he hits a rock and falls?

A twisted ankle makes every later mile harder, especially once the flat road gives way to hills. By then the search planes have stopped coming, so he can at least travel by daylight.