Son

By Lois Lowry

The thrilling fourth companion novel to THE GIVER which inspired the dystopian genre and is soon to be a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift.

They called her Water Claire.

When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions don’t exist. That she had become a Vessel. That she had carried a Product. That it had been stolen from her body.

Claire’s son is out there, a young boy now. She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice.

The startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s award-winning epic series THE GIVER QUARTET culminates in a final clash between good and evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jul 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9780007597314

Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry is the author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the New York Times bestselling Giver Quartet and the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver.

Reviews for Son

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the conclusion of The Giver quartet. What a wonderful finish or wrap-up to this story. I really enjoyed the first book, The Giver, and was slightly confused how book two fit with it as there was nothing about The Giver characters in it. Then book three slightly tied the first two books together. But this one brought them all to a great conclusion and also answered several questions. What happened to Jonas, what happened to Gabe, and who was the Trade master. Very beautifully written, this book kept my attention and pulled me into the story. When Claire did her trade with the Trade Master I was yelling at her not to do it. But she needed to in order for the ending to happen. She needed to so that events would fall into place to end Trade Master's evil. This is a wonderful series of books. Great as audio book entertainment in the car.

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

These books have been a strange combination of YA dystopian and fairy tale. The last one brings most of the characters together and makes a full circle when Gabe's mother gets her own story and comes looking for him.

[faith_murri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really liked this, but I didn't love it.

The Writing and World-Building

I really liked how this book goes into some more mature themes, like motherhood, apathy, abuse, and depression, but found that in the third part, where it should have climaxed and been at its literary peak, I found it somewhat lacking. There were some characters whose arcs weren't really completed. I did, though, really appreciate the return of the Trademaster, though he did feel rather stereotypical and cliché.

The Characters

Claire: I really loved Claire. She made an excellent protagonist for the majority of the book.

Einar: I seriously freaking love Einar. I only want the best for him! I just want him to be happy and loved! ❤❤❤

Gabe: He was a bit too similar to Matty to really feel like anything special, though I did like him.

Alys and Benedikt: They were so cute!!!

The Trademaster: A little tropey, a little Trumpy...

Conclusion

I liked it enough, and it worked as a suitable conclusion to the Giver, but I was still rather disappointed.

[vhartpowers · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story of Claire from the same world as Jonas, (The Giver). She was assigned birthmother, but something goes wrong. She's re-assigned and then goes to the fish hatchery. But she has a longing to be with her child.
I don't want to go into detail of what happens, because her journey is the story.
In the end she makes a trade with the Trademaster from Messenger and her son Gabe has a longing to find his mother.
This book is a little more advanced in emotions and relationships that may not be for elementary, but middle school and high school for sure. The word choices are not difficult and the story is woven well.

[sprainedbrain · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love the way everything was tied together and ended well with this series. Sometimes, there's nothing wrong with a happy ending.

[starla_aurora · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a perfect And beautiful series. I loved them all!

[carmenmilligan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars

I liked this last installment in Lowry's "The Giver" quartet. I read The Giver over two years ago and it has stuck with me. When I read a fellow reader's review of one of the sequels, it sparked my interest in reading the other three. They were extremely easy to read and left me with a feeling of good-over-evil and a desire to read the next in the series.

I was pleasantly surprised by the layout of this last story, with three sections which addressed three characters that devotees have loved since The Giver was published to accolades in 1993. The sections flowed seamlessly into one another, but were all different stories with different trials and outcomes. It was like reading three novellas to make one large story arc. Brilliant.

Since these are YA books, I appreciate the tidy ending to each story, but feel that real life was addressed through aging, death, and a very real evil present in their lives. This is a very good series with an equally satisfying ending. The only thing lacking is the prospect of another in the series. I expect these books will become classics. It makes me want to go back to the first in the series for a re-read, and what can be better than that?

Highly recommended.

[wethereaders · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Intriguing and at times the writing is almost musical. I felt like there were missing pieces between the civilizations that were not explained.All in all a good book.

[gr8ind8n · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not my favorite Lois Lowry book. I could have done without the middle third, she took too much time expounding on Claire's time after she washed up. I really enjoyed seeing all the characters from other books together and understanding how the loose ends tie up. Claire's shock at the birds, animals, etc in her new environment is really quite interesting. This book could start discussions many topics including: reproduction outside of natural processes, controlling govts or societies, overcoming evil with love, sacrifice, etc.

[queenoftheshelf · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

We meet Claire, who was selected at 12 to be a birth mother, and at 14 she is getting ready to "produce" her first "product." The stark language and descriptions add to our horror as we journey through the birth, which goes wrong, and Claire's subsequent shunning from the job of birth mother. We journey with her as she grieves for her loss, realizes who she is, and determines to find the child that was literally ripped from her womb. Lovers of Gathering Blue and The Messenger will enjoy the closure of this novel, but fans of The Giver will probably leave wanting something more. Children in Grade 5 and older will be capable of handling the philosophical debates presented, although they might need a trusted adult nearby for the questions about the relationships between mother and child.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Claire never really had any plans for her future, but she was still disappointed when she was selected to be a Birth Mother at her Ceremony of Twelves - despite her parents' reassurances, everyone knows Birth Mother is not a particularly prestigious job. But when her first pregnancy goes wrong, and they have to cut the Product out of her, soon she doesn't even have that to hang onto. She's transferred to a new job, but she makes a secret vow that she will one day find her baby - her son. But that path is longer than even she could have realized, because her baby is Gabe, the infant that Jonas took with him when he fled the Community. Claire must leave as well, but how will she find her way in a world that's unlike anything she's ever experienced?Review: The action in this book takes place in three sections - one with Claire in the Community, as she's a young woman, one where she is living in a pre-industrial village and suffering from amnesia regarding her former life, and then the third where she has encountered the Tradesmaster and come to the town where Jonas and Kira and Gabe are now living. So this book echos the three books that came before, in a way, and my opinions about this book tally fairly well with my opinions about those books.Specifically, the first two parts were pretty enjoyable. It was interesting to see another side of the Community other than Jonas's, and although I still have issues with "how things got to be this way", I was able to suspend disbelief enough to just go with the story most of the time. The second part was equally interesting, nice to see Claire grow up and learn to interact with the people around her. However, a lot of this part is taken up by what, in the movie version of this book, would be condensed into a training montage, so I thought that could have been a little quicker.It's the third part where things went awry, much like the third book that I really didn't care for. In theory, I don't mend the melding of sci-fi and fantasy, but so much of this book (and the ones before it) is spent building this dystopian world (or worlds, in the various villages), that all of a sudden you toss in some magic, and some magical realism, and some woo-woo blathering about the human spirit or something, and that's where you lose me. This book, and the series as a whole, would have been so much better if the Trademaster didn't exist. But as is, I enjoyed the first two thirds of the book - they're not perfect, but they're enjoyable - and then I spent the last third rolling my eyes out of my head. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: Better than I thought it was going to be (translation: better than Messenger), and fans of The Giver will enjoy it for sure. It needs to be read after The Giver for sure, but would probably be understandable without reading Gathering Blue or Messenger - it'd been years since I'd read them and I'd forgotten most of the details, and I still followed along just fine.

[larasimmons2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was drawn to this book partially because I had really enjoyed "The Giver" in middle school, and because I had a conversation with an employee at The Children's bookstore. "The Giver" having been a Newberry Medal Book was extremely well thought out. As the 4th book in her thought process on the subject, there were "loose ends" for her to tie up. The main themes of the book are the ties and bonds of family. While I think the ties of family and motherly love were prominent themes, frequently I felt Lowry was throwing the concept in the reader's face.While I had really enjoyed the first book of the quartet, "The Giver" I just honestly felt the other three did not live up to Lowry's usual writing standards. While I enjoyed the prose and structure of the book, I feel like this book still fell short of the original. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the book. Despite my overall discord for the book, I think Lowry's approach to Gabe and Claire are significant. Gabe, fits into Lowry's excellent character description and development. His constant need and desire for building a boat to go in search of himself is intriguing. A little mature for a young teenage boy, but angsty enough to be believable. While he has the constant need to want to be re-connected with his mother, the subject becomes relate-able for young readers. I also liked Claire's character. She is strong and determined to find her son and be a regular presence in his life. I found it a bit odd that after all she went through to find him that she waited another 5 years once she did before even mentioning her story. Her draw and desire and constant search for her son and build a lasting relationship, is something any reader is going to grapple with. I liked how she had the book in three sections, as well. This allowed for the story to continue to develop and build a variety of rising action. For example, once Claire was strong enough to scale the mountain and cliffs to find her son was empowering and served as a good plot driver. The downside is that with three sections, and being the final book of the quartet, there just seemed to be far more unnecessary details. For example, I did not think it was vital to have the trade-master return in the book. I also do not think it was fully necessary to have Kira and Jonas married.

[jaelynculliford · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a perfect ending to the world of the Giver. Lois Lowry ending the book with so much creativty. Nothing in this book was a let down and it was a great way to get the answers that we wanted for so long.

[lissabeth21 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Son brings the reader back to the community of The Giver. This time we hear the story of Claire, a female just a few years older than Jonas. Their lives intersect in unexpected ways and ties the reader to her sad tale. The conclusion to The Giver quartet, though the longest of the series, was not as complete as I had imagined. The moral thread carried through the books was present, but I wish there had been as much detail in the third part, called Beyond, as there had been in the first two sections.
My own wish was that Ms. Lowry had done more explaining about how this world came to be, perhaps more about the gifts given to the main characters. So much was left open to interpretation and my own feeble hopes for characters I came to care about.

[lindsay_w_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lois Lowry never intended to write a conclusion to 1993’s “The Giver”, but fast forward to 2012 and Lowry, now 75, closes the Giver series with “Son.” Readers who always wanted to know what happened to Jonas and Gabe will feel satisfied with this ending. Readers who were ok with the ambiguous ending of the Giver will enjoy her depiction of other communities as well as exploring human relations, good vs. evil and the powerful bond between a mother and a child. “Son”, is really the story of Claire, a 12 with Jonas, who became a birth mother, and Gabe, the baby who failed to thrive and was scheduled to be sent “away” before Jonas escaped with him at the end of The Giver.

[alfabr14 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

 Claire lived in a community with strict rules and little to no freedom. The community takes pills to get rid of all their emotions, to keep the society 'safe'. Claire is a birth mother, and when something goes wrong when she is in labor, her job is reassigned. Claire, and the other birth mothers, didn't take the pills for their baby's health. Claire is informed that her child is fine, and her new job will be at the fish hatchery. At the fish hatchery, she still does not take her pills. Her emotions come back, and she starts to feel love and worry for her child. After finding his whereabouts, she visits her son, Gabe, at the child care center. She grows more love for her child, and visits him more often. When it is announced that Gabe will be killed (or as the community calls it, to be taken to beyond), she runs to save him. She learns that Jonas, a boy in the community, has stolen him to keep him safe. In attempts to find him, she boards a ship at the dock. During a storm, the ship is wrecked and she washes aboard a strange island. There, she loses her memory. With the help of her friends Alys and Lame Einar, she regains her memory and health, and goes to look for her child. She soon finds Trademaster, and he gives her the option of teleporting her to her child, in exchange for her youth. Disaster strikes soon after that, and her life becomes in danger, and its up to Gabe to save her. I did not enjoy The Son by Lois Lowry. The story followed a pattern for each setting in the story, the community, the island, and the village. The story starts slow and very boring. Nothing much happens and the building tension is almost impossible to identify. Then, a big change in the story happens in 3 sentences. This style made the story impossible to read, enjoy, and was hard to understand. The character development did explain Claire well, with her love and care for others. The other characters were poorly developed and described. Some characters however, were very well detailed, but had no purpose in the story, which confused me in their point in the story. The poor ordering and describing of the characters and plot of the story made me highly dislike the story and it was very confusing.

[themadhatters_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fourth book of the Giver quartet. Claire was chosen to be a Birthmother at the Ceremony. She has a son, but in her world, babies live in the Nurturing Center and are assigned to parents as toddlers. When her son disappears with another child, Jonas, Claire also leaves her community to try to find him. A shipwreck leaves her trapped for years in an isolated village, yet Claire never loses her desire to find her son. It may require a sinister deal with the Trademaster to succeed, but the cost may be too high.

[yonitdm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An amazing ending to the series. It seemed a bit rushed at the end, but the beginning and middle were captivating!

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A satisfying, tense end to Lowry's Giver quartet. To get the full impact of this story, you must read the entire quartet in order. Pieces are pulled together and relationships explained in this final book. Although I have GIVER and GATHERING BLUE in my elementary school library, more maturity is needed for readers to appreciate the last 2 books.

[daniexj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, shoot, now how are English teachers going to assign their classes to write the rest of the ending to The Giver if Ms. Lowry answers a ton of the questions herself right in this book? (Heh).Anyway, this is the fourth book in the 'Giver' series. And it pulls together almost everything from the previous three books into the same story. It starts with Claire from the same community/town as Jonas, but who a couple years before Jo was picked as a birth mother. Claire had her child, #36 of that year, but something went wrong and she got reassigned to the Fish Hatchery. The story goes from there, mostly following her journey as she tries to reconnect with her son.It's an amazingly expansive story, and like with the other three stories in the Giver series, it never forgets about the characters or relationships also. We have Claire who with every chapter we find has new layers to her. Gabe who has quite grown up since the last books. Alysis a great supporting character who's quite the helper on Claire's journey. And then there's Einar. He turned into my favorite character in the whole book. Claire meets him once she gets out of the community where she grew up and like her he has many, many layers to him. And even as the book ends I felt like there could be another one just about him. That seems to be how Lowry writes. On the one hand the stories get well concluded while still being wicked open ended.But the part that I like most about this series' books, especially this one, is that it's always fun to try and figure out what these characters are talking about, what something like a fish as big as a boat really refers to. I like thinking of how Lowry's world fits (or doesn't fit) alongside our real world.

[mountie9_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Good Stuff Beautiful hopeful ending to a fabulous series Some honest truths and observations about life, love, sacrifice and family After meeting with Lois Lowry and hearing her speech at the Children's Breakfast, I can see her strength and her love for her deceased son throughout the book Claire is a intriguing character, I didn't always understand her actions, but they made sense for her Deals with the all consuming love you have for your children - as a mom this will impact you more Ties all of the books together and you are left with the overwhelming feeling of hope that their world will change for the better - but without it feeling too neat or tidy I still miss Matty - and when he is mentioned I teared up Nice to see Jonas happy Perfect book for class discussions and book clubs-The Not So Good Stuff I suggest reading the first three books before picking this up - otherwise you will be lost (I am glad I read the whole series very close together as it gave it much more of an impact) A little too much detail about Claire's journey down the mountain Favorite Quotes/Passages "She would not let them take that from her, that feeling. If someone in authority noticed the error, if they delivered a supply of pills to her, she thought defiantly, she would pretend. She would cheat. But she would never, under any circumstances, stifle the feelings she had discovered. She would die, Claire realized, before she would give up the love she felt for her son." "You won't ever know what that's like, to love someone, In a way I pity you."4 Dewey'sI picked this up at BEA (Book Expo America) last year and am finally getting to it

[salsabrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Narrated by Bernadette Dunne. Whether it's grave dystopia or an outside community of simple living, Dunne captures the ambience of both worlds and its inhabitants. A satisfying close to the series that began with "The Giver."

[adamwolf_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

*sigh*.

I did not like this book.

[kvelin-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Emotions and relationships are major influences in our daily lives. Can you imagine a world where the very things that shape our lives are stripped away? In Lois Lowry’s book "Son", the reader is drawn into this strange new world where words like “love” and “joy” don’t exist. The main character, Claire, draws the reader into the story. It is her dissatisfaction and struggle with the way things are that allows a reader to enter into a world so controlled that not even emotions are allowed to exist. When Claire begins to fight against society’s ideal, the reader feels her struggle. Lowry uses Claire to evoke the very emotions in the reader that she has been prevented from feeling. And when Claire finally escapes into a different world, the reader breathes a sigh of relief; until, they see the cost of what it means to love.Claire begins searching for the son that she was refused to love. But just how far will this mother go to restore a relationship with the son she only got to know in secret; a son who probably doesn’t even remember her. Despite obstacles and many pains, both physical and emotional, Claire continues to search and yearn for the son she never got the chance to know. Eventually her journey brings her face to face with the Tradesmaster. Through Lowry’s descriptions of him the reader almost recoils at the look and smell of the foul man. And although this man is a fictional character, the reader can’t help but sense something familiar about the man who will give you what you truly want… but for a price. This novel explores what it’s really like to love, lose, fight and come face to face with our deepest fears. What lengths will Claire go to in order to reunite with a son she lost years ago, one who has little to no memory of ever having a mother? Is what Claire desires most worth the price she has to pay in order to get it? Just read Lois Lowry’s book, Son, to find out.

[vaterolsen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Perhaps because this book finishes the series, too many details are provided, rather than being left to the reader to interpret. The narrator Bernadette Dunne had a whisper-like tone that I didn't care for. Despite these failings, I enjoyed the book. I will go back to reread The Giver now.

[prkcs · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Unlike the other Birthmothers in her utopian community, teenaged Claire forms an attachment to her baby, feeling a great loss when he is taken to the Nurturing Center to be adopted by a family unit.

[fromthecomfychair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a conclusion to The Giver, it was a conclusion, and somewhat satisfying, but it took a long time to get there, and I don't know if young adults will want to stay with it. The first 2/3 of the book are the birthmother, Claire's story. I found the first third, which takes place in the original dystopian community, to be interesting, as it showed the community from another angle. Claire is chosen as a birthmother because she is not smart enough to do something else (ooh, that ought to raise someone's hackles!). The middle portion of the book takes place in another location, and the third, when we finally meet up with Jonas and Gabe, is in yet another community. Lois Lowry's writing is so darn good, I enjoyed following Claire's journey. Maybe if I read the other two related books, I'll feel differently about this one.

[engpunk77 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A rather unnecessary conclusion to the Giver. I did really enjoy and maybe even "love" Gathering Blue & Messenger, even though it ruined The Giver's brilliant ambiguous ending. This was a simple, plot-driven story that seemed like a forced "ending" to the other 3, when with both books 1 & 3 the ending was settled and fine as-is. Son fails to provoke thought--I paused briefly at the end to ponder the possible truth of the concept that people who are miserable ("evil") thrive on seeing the pain and hurt they cause and that perhaps to really hurt them you can show them how happy and unaffected you are by their schemes.... but that was the only time I thought at all, save for the making connections to book 1 (plot-wise). I am barely glad I did read it for the sake of saying I did, nothing more.

[jamski-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's hard to review a "series" book without giving away too much. So much takes place that is affected by what you're already read. Suffice to say, if you HAVEN'T read the preceding three books in this series, STOP what you are doing, and read them.

Good. You're back. Excellent. And you've read "The Giver", "Gathering Blue", and "Messenger". Now then. I STILL can't in good faith give away too much of what goes on in this story, because it ties up so many loose ends in this world. More than I can mention, and more than even I realized. But a good summary might go like this: Claire, a birth mother in the same village as Jonas, the central character in the first book, gives birth to her "product" (the baby, her son) and in childbirth is rendered incapable of further child-bearing. As it happens, said child turns out to be a very important recurring character in the previous books, and as Claire's journey to discover--and then FIND--her son reaches from her original home, down a river, then to a settlement on the shores of a great sea, up the side of a cliff, and finally to the village we have previously visited in "Gathering Blue" and "Messenger". Along the way she makes a trade which at the same time points her toward her goal...and make it unlikely she will ever reach it.

It's a fascinating tale and ultimately satisfying, and the only reason I don't give it five stars rather than four is that the denouement is perhaps a bit too abrupt for my liking. But it's Lowry's world, not mine, and I give her all the credit in the world for not only creating it, but for making it so utterly engrossing that I would go through all four books in less than ten days. And I am NOT a speed reader.

I suspect kids from 8 to 18 would eat this stuff up. Even those who blinked their eyes at "Messenger" or wrinkled their noses at "Gathering Blue" (the best of the four, in my estimation) will enjoy it, and likely will quickly search out its predecessors. Which considering their quality, cannot be a bad thing. Parent, please oblige them! And enjoy the books along with them.

In summary: this is a worthy finale to an epic tale, one which deserves its place among classics, childden, adult, and every age in between.

[kiwiria_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The Giver" is still my favourite in the series, but this comes in as a clear number two - ahead of both "The Messenger" and "Gathering Blue". I liked the way the story was structured - in three clearly separate parts. Admittedly, each time we finished one part, I was sad to leave it behind, but fortunately I soon got caught up in the next part of the story.

A fascinating story and I loved how it tied together all the particulars of the other three books. Brilliant end to the quartet.