Sponsored by Satellite Love: A Novel by Genki Ferguson.
In 1999 Japan, sixteen-year-old Anna looks to the stars for solace. An outcast at school, and left to fend for herself and care for her increasingly erratic grandfather at home, Anna copes with her loneliness by searching the night sky for answers. But everything changes the evening she finds the Low-Earth Orbit satellite (LEO for short) arcing high above – returning her gaze and seeing her as no one else has before. Satellite Love is a spellbinding novel about a girl, a boy, and a satellite – and an unforgettable story about the yearning for meaning and connection, and the lengths we’ll go to find a place to belong.
Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend a book you should add to your TBR, STAT! I stan variety in all things, and my book recommendations will be no exception. These must-read books will span genres and age groups. There will be new releases, oldie but goldies from the backlist, and the classics you may have missed in high school. Oh my! If you’re ready to diversify your books, then LEGGO!!
The weekend feels like it’s in the distance, but there is plenty to look forward to because a literary giant is celebrating a birthday soon. Lois Lowry, born Lois Ann Hammersberg, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 20, 1937. There isn’t a book nerd among us who hasn’t been touched by Lois Lowry. I read both Number the Stars and The Giver in school, but I didn’t really realize how powerful of a book The Giver was until I read it again as an adult.
Without a doubt, Lois Lowry is the godmother of the YA dystopian novel. The Giver walked so The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and others could run. It’s passed the time for us to put respect on Lois Lowry’s name by revisiting the book that continues to be mandatory reading in school curricula despite being on the list of frequently challenged books.
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in an ideal world of contentment and conformity. When he receives the life assignment of Receiver of Memory, Jonas begins to understand the dark and complex secrets lurking within his colorless and fragile community.
One of the startling standouts when I read The Giver as an adult is just how young 12 is within one’s life span. I could not imagine having the career I will have for the rest of my life decided at such a young age. In Jonas’ case, his life’s work is much too much for one person to handle. The Giver is smart, emotional, and thought-provoking. It is a book that expertly tells a story through the eyes of a young person (without talking down to its target audience) that is engaging to readers of all ages. It’s rare for a book I read in middle school to still capture my attention as an adult, but The Giver does just that.
If you haven’t read The Giver since it was assigned to you in school, then you should revisit it the next time you are in the mood for a dystopian novel. You are bound to see elements in the story that flew over your young mind. Plus, this time around, you can give it the true dystopian series treatment by reading the entire Giver Quartet. Just stay far away from the adaptation. It may be the worst adaptation of all time.
Until next time bookish friends,
Katisha
Find more of me on Book Riot.
Find more books by subscribing to Book Riot Newsletters.