If you have read Lois Lowry's book, The Giver, then you may have finished with questions lingering in your mind. If that is the case, you need to read the companion book entitled Son. This novel is divided into three books: Before, Between, and Beyond. Thus far I have read "Before." The setting of this section actually travels back in time and takes place at the same time as The Giver; however, this story is from a different character's perspective. The Giver revolves around the main character, Jonas, while Son: Before tells the story of a different main character, Claire.
At the end of The Giver, Jonas has escaped the utopian community with a young baby named Gabe. Jonas was selected as the community's next Receiver of Memory, and during his training he experienced so many emotions and memories that changed him forever. He felt that he had to save Gabe from release, so in the middle of the night he takes Gabe and leaves the community, heading for the forbidden Elsewhere.
Claire was assigned the position of Birthmother; however, after giving birth to a product she is decertified due to delivery complications. When they tell her she has been decertified, she asks about the product and finds out he is #36 and is doing fine. Claire is then reassigned to work in the fish hatchery. Not long after she is reassigned, she begins to have feelings for this product she gave birth to. No one else in the community experiences true feelings, and if they do they certainly do not discuss it.
Claire decides to act on these feelings and heads to the Nurturing Center to see if she can find her "son." After a little investigating, Claire finds #36. She begins to volunteer in his room and develops a deeper attachment to the baby boy. The baby is restless and therefore cannot be assigned a family unit. Claire meets Jonas's father, as he is the primary caregiver for # 36. After almost a year of volunteering at the Nurturing Center, it is time for another ceremony and this time the baby should be assigned to a family. Unfortunately, he is still not ready and will be released from the community. Claire discovers that Jonas has taken the baby from the community to save him and then finds herself aboard a cargo ship, leaving the community.
Claire finds herself in a new village where the people accept her and teach her the ways of the world beyond the Giver community. Claire is overwhelmed by all that exists that her senses were never allowed to pursue. After some time passes, Claire is determined to continue her journey in search for Gabe. She is faced with unthinkable obstacles along the way. Meanwhile, Gabe is living in another community with Jonas and the two have also discovered happiness, love, and reality that was hidden from them in the previous life. Will Claire ever find Gabe? What will happen if she does?
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