Son - by Lois Lowry

Not at all what I expected.  How many times have I written that, yet it's perfectly true here.  You'd think I'd learn to not expect anything, and to just go with the flow, yet when I read the back of this book, about how a mother goes searching for her son, I definitely did not to read about an adventurous, mystical quest, and an epic battle between good and evil!

This is a powerful book on many levels.  Any parent will relate to it deeply because of the strong parental themes, but any child will be swept up in the mystery and adventure of Claire's quest to regain what once was hers: Her son.  Claire was born in the futuristic and utopian/dystopian village that was the setting of The Giver and its sequels: The Messenger and Gathering Blue.  Unlike these three, this fourth and last book of the series takes its characters on long, fantastical journeys, into new and mysterious lands, and places them in harms way again and again. Although it is a fitting end to the series, you could easily read this book on its own without ever having heard of The Giver.

This is an amazing, surprising, hair-raising, emotionally touching book.  It has elements of the movie Rocky, especially the training scenes as Rocky builds strength to take on that Russian powerhouse.  At the same time, it is reminiscent of the best Harry vs. Voldemort battle scenes in the Harry Potter books.  Yes, there is adventure and action, though sometimes you have to wait for it... wait for it... though it is worth the wait.

Not at all what I expected, but so much better!