Son

Son by Lois Lowry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher: Houghton Mufflin
Publish Date: October 2, 2012
Source: Baker and Taylor ARC
Interest: Middle-Grade, Series, Dystopia

The characters from The Giver, The Messenger, and Gathering Blue are revisited in this conclusion to The Giver Quartet. In Son, we are introduced to Claire. Claire was from the same community as Jonas from The Giver. She was the birth mother to the baby that Jonas' family was fostering and that he rescued at the end of The Giver. We know learn Claire's story and her desperate search for the child that she was forced to live without.
I was so excited to see this available as an ARC. I had not heard that Lowry had written another novel in this series. Although it had been many years since I had read the other novels, the tone and feel of Son immediately brought me back to this world. I read this in a matter a days and now want to re-read the rest of the series to better see the connections between the novels.
Claire's story is heartbreaking and empowering at the same time. Unusual circumstances allow her to see flaws in the controlled community she lived in. She doesn't know any other way to live, but she knows that there is more to life that what her community has to offer. No matter how long it takes her, she is determined to reunite with her son.
Her quest takes her to two different communities over many years. Over that time, she learns more about herself. And from her journey, we learn about humanity.

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