Today Is Declared An Unscheduled

His Mind Reeled. Now, Empowered To Ask Questions Of Utmost Rudeness-and Promised Answers-he Could, Conceivably (though It Was Almost Unimaginable), Ask Someone, Some Adult, His Father Perhaps: "do You Lie?" But He Would Have No Way Of Knowing If The Answer He Received Was True.

Sometimes I Wish They'd Ask For My Wisdom More Often - There Are So Many Things I Could Tell Them; Things I Wish They Would Change. But They Don't Want Change. Life Here Is So Orderly, So Predictable - So Painless. It's What They've Chosen.

I Make Up The Characters In My Books, But Of Course My Consciousness Is Filled With Every Child I've Ever Known, Including My Two Grandchildren, My Own Kids (i Had Four) And Especially Myself As A Child, Because That Person Still Lives Inside Me, Too.

When I Wrote 'the Giver,' It Contained No So-called 'bad Words.' It Was Set, After All, In A Mythical, Futuristic, And Utopian Society. Not Only Was There No Poverty, Divorce, Racism, Sexism, Pollution, Or Violence In The World Of 'the Giver'; There Was Also Careful Attention Paid To Language: To Its Fluency, Precision, And Power.

We Live In Times That Are In Many Ways Ambiguous. Maybe That's Why Kids Want Precision In What They Read - They Don't Like That Moral Ambiguity.