Lowry, Lois. Son.

Lowry, Lois.  Son.  Houghton Mifflin  393p  $17.99    978-0-547-88720-3 2012 ms/hs E-BN        Fantasy    

In this concluding volume of The Giver quartet, all the plot lines are joined in a seamless creation.  The story begins, as did the first book, in the structured and rigid community where life is totally regimented.  Claire has been designated a Birthmother and, in due course, delivers her “product”, Gabe.  However, things go terribly wrong with the birth and she needs surgery.  In the confusion of her reassignment from the Dormitory, the authorities forget to give her the pills that subdue feelings and emotions.  Claire longs for her son and discovers him in the communal Nurturing Center.  She finds ways to visit and volunteers to help with the babies, bonding inexorably with her own.  She connects with Gabe’s nurturer, who has been bringing him home for overnight visits with his family.  When the baby and the nurturer’s son disappear, Claire knows she must follow them.  She ends up shipwrecked and without her memory in a small seaside village where the only way out is by the treacherous sea or up a forbidding cliff.  It takes Claire many years to reach the place where she will be both physically and spiritually ready to conquer this precipice.   Upon reaching the top, she faces yet another obstacle, the Trademaster, in her search for Gabe.  She willingly trades her youth for information about Gabe and finally finds him in the small village where he now lives with Jonas and Kira.  As the narrative progresses and the reader discovers the names of those involved, everything finally becomes clear.  As in the previous books, the novel focuses on young people who are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to save their world.  It ends with the hope that good has actually triumphed over evil, no matter what the costs.  Honor, loyalty, bravery in the face of overwhelming fear, and the ability to offer love to others combine to make the book an excellent read.  Lowry's writing is thoughtful, yet not overburdoned with sentimentality, and it allows the story to unfold gradually and believably.  Both the characters and settings are vividly evoked, and the ending is sure to demand discussion and debate.  Son provides an infinitely satisfying and memorable conclusion to the series.    

Dystopian Futures-Fiction                                   --Susan Ogintz