Book Review by Aarene Storms: Son

Son by Lois Lowry

In this final volume of the acclaimed series that began with The Giver, Claire is a member of a well-ordered society where conformity is required, and where a committee makes all significant choices for community members.

Claire is designated as a "Vessel" (birthmother) and expected to produce three "Products" (offspring) before being given a new job. Although she successfully births a son, the birth is complicated and Claire is deemed unsuitable for further production and reassigned to the fish hatchery ... having never seen her child.

Gradually, readers of previous volumes in the series will perceive that Claire's son is known from other books -- he is Gabe, the baby that Jonas rescued in The Giver. Now partly grown, Gabe longs for a parent, not knowing that Claire has sacrificed something vitally important to find him ... something that only Gabe can retrieve. This book completes stories and ties up loose ends from previous books, leaving characters reunited and readers satisfied.

Rating:

No sex (Claire is tactfully artificially inseminated at the beginning of the book), no cussing. Bloodshed and violence are implied rather than explicit. Son does not stand alone; familiarity with the other books in the series are needed to understand the story. Recommended for ages 12 and up.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true. --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS