12/18/2017 Son (novel) - Wikipedia

Son (novel)
Son is the final entry in The Giver Quartet by Lois Lowry. It was preceded by
Son by Lois Lowry
Messenger, the third book of the series. The book follows Claire, the mother of
Gabriel, the baby seen in The Giver.[1]

Contents
Plot
Before
Between
Beyond
Themes and development
Critical reception
References
External links

Plot Author Lois Lowry

Country United States
Son is written in three parts, each with a subtitle: Before, Between, and
Beyond. Language English
Series The Giver Quartet

Before Genre Young adult fiction

Dark fantasy
The first section subtitled, Book One: Before, It takes place in the same
location ("The Community") and at the same time as the first book in The
Publisher Houghton Mifflin
Giver Quartet: The Giver. Claire's assigned occupation in the community is
Harcourt
Birth Mother, whose primary responsibility is to give birth. At the start of the Publication October 2, 2012
date
book, Claire is nearing the end of her pregnancy. She gives birth to her child at
age 14, but complications during labor necessitate delivery by Cesarean Media type Print (hardback)
section. Three weeks after giving birth, Claire reports to the birthing unit office Pages 393 pp
and is reassigned to work at the Fish Hatchery. Before she leaves, she inquires ISBN 978-0-54788-720-3
after the baby she delivered, and the officer informs her that the baby is
Preceded by Messenger
healthy, accidentally informing Claire that the child is male and number
Thirty-Six in his year.

Claire retains curiosity for her son as she begins work at the Fish Hatchery, and begins casually volunteering at the infant
nurturing center to see him. As she plays with Thirty-six, she quickly grows to love him, a feeling she finds that she alone
experiences. She later realizes that all adult community members take pills which suppress emotions. As a Birth mother,
she was instructed not to take the pills, and the matter was overlooked in her reassignment. Claire is told that Thirty-six is

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going "Elsewhere" due to his failure to thrive according to the community's standards. Before she can do anything, her son
is saved and taken away by Jonas (the protagonist from The Giver). Claire attempts to follow them on a supply boat, but
the boat soon encounters a strong storm and is shipwrecked.

Between
In the second section, subtitled Book Two: Between, Claire is rescued from the beach the supply boat shipwrecked on. She
is taken in by a midwife named Alys while she tries to regain her memory, as she has suffered from temporary amnesia
after the wreck. Once her memories return, a man named Lame Einar trains her to be able to escape the village they are in.
She must be able to climb a steep cliff up out of the valley. After climbing the cliff, she meets an evil entity by the name of
Trademaster. It offers to take her to her son if she trades her youth. Claire agrees, and is turned into an old woman and her
son, named Gabriel (Gabe), is located.

Beyond
In the third and final section of the book, subtitled Book Three: Beyond, Gabe is now a young man, and has a power to see
into other people's minds for a split second, a gift named veering. Gabe is also curious about his old home, and about who
his mother really is. Meanwhile, Jonas notices the now old Claire and finds out that Claire is the mother of Gabe, and
convinces Gabe that Claire is his mother and that the Trademaster is evil and caused her to grow old. Gabe is then told
that the Trademaster must be killed. He meets the Trademaster, and veers into his body, and understands that the
Trademaster is hungry for suffering. Gabe then tells the Trademaster of all the people that the Trademaster has tried to
destroy, and how they are living happily again. This destroys the Trademaster, and when Gabe returns home, Claire
returns to her younger self.

Themes and development

Themes in Son include those of love, obligation, sacrifice, and loss.[2] Lowry had originally not planned on writing Son or
any sequels to The Giver, but was inspired to write the story after she "decided to describe what became of him [Gabriel]
as he grew up".[3] Initially intending to center the book around Gabriele and his determination to discover his past, Lowry
instead found herself being drawn to write more about Claire. She stated that "I wasnt aware of it at the time ... but when I
was writing of her yearning to find her boy, that was coming out of my own yearning to have my own son back."[4]

Critical reception
Reception for Son has been mostly positive, with the book gaining starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist.[5][6]
A reviewer for The Washington Post wrote that the book had a "quiet climax", stating that the ultimate "power of this
parable" is that "It confronts us with some of the choices we are making and plays out the consequences."[7] Robin
Wasserman of The New York Times commented that Son did well as a standalone novel and praised Lowry's descriptions
in the book.[2] The Boston Globe criticized the book's "over-elaborations and pacing" while writing that "overall the
journey is still worth the effort".[8] The AV Club commented that while the book could have used more world-building, it is
also "just plain good young-adult literature".[9]

References
1. Williams, John. "Book Review Podcast: The Final Book in Lois Lowry's 'Giver' Quartet" (http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.c
om/2012/10/12/book-review-podcast-the-final-book-in-lois-lowrys-giver-quartet/). New York Times. Retrieved
19 October 2012.

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12/18/2017 Son (novel) - Wikipedia

2. Wasserman, Robin. "The Searcher" (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/books/review/son-by-lois-lowry.html). New

York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
3. Dar, Mahnaz. "Lois Lowry Talks About Her Latest Novel, 'Son' " (http://www.slj.com/2012/10/books-media/lois-lowry-ta
lks-about-her-latest-novel-son/). School Library Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
4. Kois, Dan. "The Children's Author Who Actually Listens to Children" (https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/magazine/l
ois-lowry-the-childrens-author-who-actually-listens-to-children.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0). New York Times.
Retrieved 19 October 2012.
5. "SON by Lois Lowry | Kirkus Book Reviews" (http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lois-lowry/son/#review). 15
September 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
6. Cooper, Irene (1 June 2012). "Son, by Lois Lowry | Booklist Online" (http://www.booklistonline.com/Son-Lois-Lowry/pi
d=5459877). Booklist Online. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
7. Quattlebaum, Mary (September 28, 2012). "Book World: 'Son' by Lois Lowry concludes series that began with 'The
Giver' " (https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-world-son-by-lois-lowry-concludes-series-that-be
gan-with-the-giver/2012/09/28/fc7f2a24-01dc-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html). Washington Post. Retrieved
19 October 2012.
8. Rosenberg, Liz (October 3, 2012). " 'Son' by Lois Lowry" (https://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/10/03/book-review-son-lo
is-lowry/EWSTGBAeecria4JIJc3ELJ/story.html). Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
9. McFarland, Kevin. "Lois Lowry's new Son finally concludes and resolves the classic story of The Giver" (http://www.av
club.com/articles/lois-lowrys-new-son-finally-concludes-and-resolves,86575/). AV Club. Retrieved 19 October 2012.

External links
Lois Lowry's web site (http://www.loislowry.com)

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