Being only 4'10” myself, I am rather partial to small things. I prefer to sit in the kids' primary chairs to the pews or full sized chairs at church; they're just better on my back (because my feet don't easily reach the ground). I like small, Japanese cars instead of American sedans or monster trucks. The Japanese have really studied “little people” ergonomics and their products fit me so much better! And although I don't retreat easily when it comes to reading big, long books, I am astounded by authors who are skilled enough to develop characters and stories that can affect our thinking or alter a society in 225 pages or less, give or take a dozen pages or so.

Think about it. There are millions upon millions of books out there, some encompassing hundreds or even thousands of pages, others but a few. Yet, which text is most likely to be read and appreciated by more than just shut-ins, academics or crazed bibliophiles, like myself? One that weighs 5 pounds and takes a ream of paper to print or the one that can slip inside a jacket pocket or purse without much inconvenience to the one porting it? One that needs to be carried in the crook of one's arm or one that can be easily balanced on a lunch tray, propped on the Stairmaster or stowed in your carry on bag while flying? The answer is obvious.

The Goal

Since last month's book, Reading Lolita in Tehran , gave you much of the weighty and a bit of the weight, this month I'm going to focus on a number of more compact books that are accessible and interesting to both the non-readers in your groups and those whose reading conquests never seem to end. The idea is to provide you some great choices that are brief, for those “palette cleansing” months after a heavy read, but still highly dissectible for book club discussions.

The Books

One of my selections you may recall from junior high or high school, but you were just a kid then. You were probably being forced to read it and saw the messages in it through the blurry, unfocused eyes of youth. It is time to give this book a second look; things change. You probably even have glasses now! One or two others, your own kids may be enduring at this very moment. Take the time to read these books and learn along with them.

Lois Lowry, The Giver Trilogy, 571 pps. total. The Giver, 180 pps; Gathering Blue, 215 pps., Messenger, 176 pps.

“At dawn, the orderly, disciplined life he had always known would continue again...The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without color, or pain, or past.”¹

Imagine “sameness.” No differences, in anything. No color. No deep emotions or confusing feelings. Easy explanations for everything. No family based on real attachments. Order rules the day and the one who upsets this way of life can expect to be “released” from the community, sent to live...Elsewhere. Such is the substance of The Giver 's world.

When I first read The Giver , I cringed through the first few chapters. It is one of those “what-might-our-society-be-like-if...” books, like Orwell's 1984 or Meyer's The Host , and those stories always creep me out! It bothers me greatly to contemplate living in a world without freedom of thought or movement, no creativity or differences- no real life! I get an almost claustrophobic feeling from them.

Additionally, I wasn't sure what to think about The Giver when we selected it for our book club this past year; it is, after all, “just” a young adult book. In fact, I had never heard of it before January but, I'm finding it is on quite a few school reading lists. Our school district back home in Texas has the sixth graders reading it - and I was surprised to find it is not without a bit of controversy.

Nevertheless, The Giver is quite a remarkable little book and Lowry does a masterful job at bringing the reader to an understanding of her world and the role of the characters within it. Once I got past my initial response, I found this to be a deep and engrossing story about a young man named Jonas, who is raised in a society where people actually chose at one time to give up their individuality, generations of memories, and even some of their feelings, all to be able to live in an easy, uniform utopia of sorts.

Jonas is no ordinary young man though. He starts to notice subtle differences in the most benign objects. At the age of 12, he is selected for a specialized vocational training program, wherein he is placed as an apprentice with a wizened and respected community Elder. This man, the Receiver of Memories, helps Jonas to understand the changes he is seeing around him and leads him on a journey of discovery about the world in which he lives. While both physically and emotionally painful at times, the work in which Jonas is involved is a vital part of his community's ability to function as it does. In the end, his course draws him to others who are looking for something more rewarding than a life less complex and alters his culture forever.

The Giver lets the reader imagine what could happen if people voluntarily gave up their free will in the name of equality, peace, and political correctness. Being a bit of a political junkie, I can see warnings in Lowry's writing, as some would have us believe if we just gave all of our control to the government and allowed “It” to take care of us, we'd all be better off. Didn't Satan have that same plan at one time, too?

The controversy around The Giver stems from the author's gentle discussion about our little man's changing body. He is twelve, after all, and adolescent “stirrings” are happening. Some elements of the society that deal with euthanasia, caring for the elderly, and even a suicide have bothered some parents. My feelings about the book are not affected by its content, these are issues we see and hear on the news everyday, but rather the age in which it is introduced.

I question whether the average sixth grader is mature enough to really make sense of some of the deeper significance in this story. On the other hand, how many of us were mature enough to decipher Romeo and Juliet in ninth grade or Sinclair's The Jungle in tenth grade? There is just so much of import in this book, I hate to think it would be missed by too young an audience. That being said, I have my 9 year old reading The Giver right now. We talk about what she is reading and what she thinks about the story and characters. After all, she is starting to experience some of the same things our hero is experiencing and questioning things that happen in our world. No, she won't get it all, but I decided she didn't have to. She can always, reread the book when she's older and will “get it.” Much like I argued for the Twilight series, reading The Giver with your kids, should foster some key communication moments between you. If your family is anything like mine, there is a LOT of political debate going on within our four walls these days, and books can allow kids and parents a like to draw parallels between the stories they read and real life, making their understanding of both deeper and more meaningful.

The Giver Study questions

Gathering Blue

“The guardians with their stern faces had no creative power. But they had strength and cunning, and they found a way to steal and harness other people's powers for their own needs. They were forcing the children to describe the future they wanted, not the one that could be.”²

In Gathering Blue , Lowry tells the story of 12 year old Kira, who has just lost her mother to illness. Because she was born with a deformed leg, she should not have been allowed to live, no one with handicaps in this community is allowed to survive beyond birth. However, her mother fought for the right to keep her and won, but the resentment towards them ran deep with the local women. After her mother's passing, Kira finds she must again fight to survive- alone this time.

Interestingly, it turns out Kira has great skill working with the embroidery and cloth weaving given the women to do. Because of her talent, she is spared death and is brought in to the town's city hall, as it were, to live and work on a special and highly important project. Kira's work there brings her into contact with several key characters, including a young artisan, like herself, an influential town leader, two children of immense vibrancy, a sage old woman, and a mysterious man from her past, all of whom shape Kira's view of her society and her purpose therein.

The death of her mother acts as a catalyst, starting Kira on a quest much like that of Jonas, from The Giver . All the people she meets along that pathway direct her to what she finds to be her ultimate purpose: to make her community a better a place for those to come than it was for her.

This story reminded me of M. Night Shyamalan's small, yet poignant movie, The Village , and even a bit of Jean M. Auel's book, Clan of the Cave Bear . It is, perhaps, not as powerful as The Giver , and it is slower paced and more subtle. The society depicted is far different, too. Instead of a stark, ordered, almost Stepford society, Gathering Blue portrays a much more brutal and violent one, where its members must struggle to survive daily. And where T he Giver makes a point about the need for individual expression and choice, Gathering Blue shows that by asserting their gifts and talents, all people, handicapped or otherwise, can have an positive impact on their community.

Gathering Blue

Messenger

“Wait for the true need, Matty. Don't spend the gift.”³

Completing the trilogy with Messenger , Lowry unites characters from both The Giver and Gathering Blue . We are given glimpses of other populations in the Giver world that were previously only mentioned of as part of some mythology in the earlier books. Unexpectedly, in Messenger , the reader is given the impression that Jonas' & Kira's former communities have undergone great positive changes due to their hard work and difficult choices, but the one that has always been a refuge for the sickly, deformed or displaced is turning in on itself. The previously gentle and caring people are changing and the protective forest outside of this community is becoming a dark and forbidding place- seeming to reflect the changing mind set of those in the nearby town. In a way that recalls the numerous stories of the Nephites' repeated prideful rises and humbling falls, Messenger warns what happens when people begin to cultivate conceit in place of kindness.

The central player in Messenger is Matty, the little wild child and friend to Kira, from Gathering Blue . He has matured into a youth of 12, and is trying to understand who he is. Like Jonas and Kira, he has special, unique gifts and a true inner strength that allows him to contribute much to the society of which he is a part. Though, like most of us, he struggles to understand the use and purpose of his gifts, and scars from his childhood seem to hold him back at times. The impetuous behavior that either endeared him to you in Gathering Blue or annoyed you to no end, has been largely harnessed, and we cheer to see what a choice young man he is becoming. I did like Matty because he is, well, “spunky,” and in the end, he discovers whom he is truly meant to be. Like his predecessors, Kira and Jonas, the assistance he proffers his community is in no way diminished by his youth; his selflessness is almost immeasurable.

Despite Matty's good qualities and the pleasure of knowing the Giver worlds have found a conclusion, I consider Messenger to be the least satisfying of the series- though still a good read. As much as I admire concise writing, and this column is all about celebrating brevity, I felt like Lowry could have given us 10 to 15 more pages to really round out the story and make it feel less rushed or clipped. Also, like The Giver , there are political parallels to be drawn from Messenger , what they are just depends on your point of view. Whether you read this entire series for book club, or just books 1 and 2, you should have enough discussion points to keep the conversation going for a good while .

Messenger study guide: n/a

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, 50th Anniversary Edition, 201 pps.

I think I read this book in my younger years, but I can't remember for certain. One thing that is for sure though, this book is as powerful and relevant in 2008, as is was when it was written in 1953, probably, even more so. With a recent NEA survey showing some 40% of Americans read one or less books per year, and TV viewing, computer and gaming time on the rise, Ray Bradbury's futuristic world doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

In his new world, firemen have turned to burning books for a living with fire hoses that spray kerosene and the pinnacle of success is the household that can afford to replace their living room walls with wall sized video screens. The government broadcasts 24/7, and individuals can be one with the actors on their T.V.s, thus, creating a false connection between people and the outside world.

The idea behind all of this book burning and video inundation is suppression of thought, to keep the masses numb. Extinguishing their desire to explore and question their lives is the ultimate way to pacify and keep the populace quieted. In addition, this censorship leads to tenuous relationships with other human beings, non existent levels of intimacy, and the creation of fabricated “families” within the allowed A/V existence, which also allows for greater governmental control of the peoples' minds. Goodness! I can't believe Bradbury wrote this book when television was only in its infancy. I mean there were only 3 major stations back then, I believe, and every one of them when off the air by midnight. What have we become since then? Bradbury was a man decades ahead of his time in vision.

Like our Giver characters, Guy Montag, 451 's hero, a fireman of 10 years, begins his story in blissful ignorance, but is soon painfully propelled into the reality of his unenlightened condition, with no turning back. The protagonist in Fahrenheit 451 is a 16 year old girl named Clarisse, a neighbor of Montag's. Though her effect on our fireman is everlasting, Clarisse seems almost like a figment of his imagination, serving only to start his self discovery in motion, not stay and guide it. She awakens within Montag a sense of malaise, a frustration with the status quo he had not felt before, or at least not felt with any accompanying desire to act. She makes him question his happiness, the love of his wife, his chosen career, and society's norms.

Previously powerless and impotent within his little sphere, Montag's decision to evolve spurs on greater adaptations in the world around him. He eventually finds what he has been missing: connection. Real interpersonal communication. Intimacy with other humans that is not first sifted through the screen of a video monitor. His current domain is as shallow and colorless as Jonas,' and just as bereft of books as Kira's. In the end, he, too, finds he cannot continue to live as he once did, no matter how comfortable it was. He bravely seeks “more.”

No exploding heads, please, as there is some language in Fahrenheit 451 . Well, it is essentially the same two words, just over and over at points. If you get the fiftieth anniversary edition, with the Bradbury interview in the back, he defends his use of this bit of language quite well, and I'm going to support him on it. You have no idea how hard it is to find books that don't have some language, until you try to review literature for an LDS audience. So, give me a wee break!

As a commentary on Bradbury's writing style, the man writes like he is typing while being chased by a hungry lion! It is a good thing his books tend to be brief, because they are exhausting reads. I love his stories, and now that I have done some research, I understand his writing methodology much better. Just be prepared to mentally run a 10K while you read... maybe even jump on the treadmill while you read. You will have learned something and gotten a workout in the process!

Reading Group Guide for Fahrenheit 451

Betsy Byars, Keeper of the Doves, 128 pps.

“You know, Adam,” I said aloud, “there are poems, there are stories, whole books, about people who lived hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Those people still live because of words. Words! Words are the most wonderful things in the world. As long as there are words, nobody need ever die.” 5

One way I like to find books is to peruse the ultra discount shelves at the big retailers. It was on one of those escapades at Books-A-Million that I found this little gem. I don't usually research my reads until after I have read them, so it came as a surprise to me that Keeper of the Doves is actually another juvenile fiction pick. Byars' voice is considerably different than Lowry's, though their target audience is the same in this month's selections. This book is so tiny, yet so well developed; it reminded me very much of another one of my favorite books, To Kill A Mockingbird .

Doves is a sweet, tender story about a little girl, Amen Mc Bee, her family, and its relationship to an odd Polish man that had been apart of her father's life since he was a boy. Her father protects and supports this gentle, inarticulate man, while some of Amen's own sisters find ways to hurt him. The family dynamic that starts the book, belies the love that is a central part of this story.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, each chapter in Keeper of the Doves is a beautiful Monet. The character and relationship studies in Doves will give an opportunity for much discussion in your groups. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Discussion Questions for Keeper of the Doves

Upsilamba! Until next month...

Honorable Mentions:
The Education of Little Tree, Forrest Carter (author & language concerns; great story)
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin (author concerns, but an interesting voice from the 60s)
T he Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis (loved this one on audio w/ John Cleese)
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (A review of this book will be included in next month's column, “Tales from Foreign Lands.”)
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom (great story; some author controversy)

1. Lois Lowry, The Giver , (New York: Laurel Leaf, 1993) 165.

2. Lois Lowry, Gathering Blue , (New York: Laurel Leaf, 2000) 212.

3. Lois Lowry, Messenger , (New York: Laurel Leaf, 2004) 93.

4. Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 , (New York: Del Rey Books, 1953) 23.

5. Betsy Byars, Keeper of the Doves , (New York: Viking, 2002) 120.