Yes, The Giver Is Banned!
ISBN: 9780544336261
Lois Lowry’s 1993 novel is set in a seemingly utopian society where pain, conflict, and choice have been eliminated. Twelve-year-old Jonas is assigned the role of “Receiver of Memory,” inheriting the collective memories of the community’s past, including color, music, love, and suffering. As he learns what his society has sacrificed for its stability, he faces an impossible choice. The book won the Newbery Medal in 1994 and has been challenged over 11,000 times since publication, making it one of the most contested children’s books in American history.
The first notable ban came in California in 1994, when parents at Bonita Unified complained about violent and sexual passages. In 1995, Montana parents challenged the book over depictions of infanticide and euthanasia, and Kansas parents cited “murder, suicide, and the degradation of motherhood.” A Colorado father in 2001 argued that “those types of books sow the seeds of school shootings.” In Blue Springs, Missouri, the charge was that the book “desensitized children to euthanasia.” One-third of all challenges that reported outcomes resulted in the book being removed.
Why You Should Read This
Lowry wrote a world where nobody suffers and nothing matters. No color, no music, no love, no pain. Everyone is polite. Everyone is comfortable. Everyone is dead inside. The horror of The Giver isn’t the violence. It’s the absence.
Jonas discovers that his community “releases” the elderly, the sick, and one of every set of twins. “Release” means lethal injection. His father, a gentle man who cares for newborns, performs these killings cheerfully because he doesn’t know what death is. He’s never been taught to feel it. That scene, where Jonas watches a recording of his father killing an infant, is one of the most devastating in children’s literature.
The book asks a question that gets sharper every year: how much freedom would you trade for safety? Lowry doesn’t give you a comfortable answer. She gives you Jonas, running into the snow with a stolen baby, and lets you decide whether he made it.
Why Was It Banned?
Where Was It Banned?
Read It Anyway
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Giver banned?
Yes, The Giver by Lois Lowry has been banned or challenged in 64 documented instances across 5 states in the United States, including California, Montana, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri. It remains one of the most frequently challenged books in America.
Why was The Giver banned?
The Giver has been challenged and banned for the following reasons: Violence, Sexual Content, Age Inappropriateness, Political Content. These challenges have come from school boards, libraries, and parent groups seeking to restrict access to the book.
Where is The Giver banned?
As of 2025, The Giver has been banned or challenged in California, Montana, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri. Notable bans include Bonita Unified School District (1994), Columbia Falls School District (1995), Franklin County Schools (1995).