Lois Lowry, The Giver

Young adult literature is currently focused on dystopian themes e.g. The Hunger Games or Matched where governments control every aspect of society. A contrast to that would be a utopian society as the theme for a teen novel.  One might instantly think that that would be better but you might be in for a surprise!  Consider reading an older but intriguing novel by Lois Lowry.  She began writing for children in the late 1970's and published her first book, A Summer To Die, in 1977.  Her ideas for characters seem to appear to her and from there she sculpts a story.  The Giver was published in 1993 and Lois won her second Newberry Medal for this book.  The Giver is an incredible story about a future world where people are sheltered from the pain of everyday life.  Never experiencing pain might sound appealing but in so doing these people are unknowingly robbed of experiencing their feelings, the magic of reading books, seeing the colors of the rainbow or even recalling their memories.  Lois never intended to write a sequel or even a trilogy but that happened and these stories are loosely knit together.  The second book is titled Gathering Blue, the third book is Messenger. Now a fourth and final book in this futuristic world of building community has been released and is titled Son.