And Everybody Would Have the Memories (The Giver)

Storybook: The Giver by Lois Lowry | The Giver is a 1993 American social science fiction children's novel (generally Young Adult or older) by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society but then has the reader question whether the societies' utopia is worth the cost. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth and thirteenth years of his life. The society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness," a plan that has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of Receiver of Memory, the person who stores all the past memories of the time before Sameness, as there may be times where one must draw upon the wisdom gained from history to aid the communities' decision making. Jonas struggles with concepts of all of the new emotions, and things being introduced to him, and whether they are inherently good, evil, in-between, and if it's even possible to have one without the other. The Community lacks any color, memory, climate and terrain whatsoever, all in effort to preserve structure, order, and a true sense of equality beyond personal individuality.

Jaclyn Alderete is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has resided in the Bay Area since 2001. She has been passionate about art since she was a child, when she first developed an interest in drawing people. She fell in love with oil paint at the age of 16, and over the years has drawn inspiration from many things; concerns of human existence, society, and our treatment of the environment. She continues to surround herself with art, sketching or painting daily.