The Giver by Lois Lowry

Genre: Science Fiction/Novel
Age range: 11 or older
Summary: In a world where everything is simple and perfect, a boy is chosen to become the next giver. It's a small knit community of people and they do not have memories of war, hunger, fear, or pain. Everyone has a role and everyone is happy at all times. And once they reach the age of twelve, they are given a job which they will do for the rest of their lives. One of the jobs is to be a giver; it requires that person to be given memories of the history of the world. Some of them are painful and others are wonderful. In the story a boy named Jonas receives the job and meets an old man who is the people's current giver. At first, Jonas enjoys visiting him and obtaining memories until the giver has to give him the painful ones. He learns of snow and feels the sun's rays. However, the giver then teaches him of pain, sorrow, and suffering. Jonas is confused and frightened at times because he doesn't understand what these feelings are. After time has passed, Jonas isn't able to stand back and know his friends and family are naive. He saw his father kill an innocent baby and his friends play pretend war, wondering how can they do those things and not know it's wrong or how they don't understand. Then, something happens which Jonas knows he must leave his home. A baby which was staying with his family will be killed and so Jonas decides to take him and flee. They travel for what seems like days until finally they come upon the outskirts of a town and slowly make their way toward it.