Well first off I will be writing spoilers about this book. So beware what you read if you plan on reading this book.
Back in my high school we had to read 'The Giver' which I will sum up for anyone who forgets. The Giver takes place in a Utopian Society where no one can see colors and the government decides everything for you. You are given your career at 14. The main character Jonas starts to see things like an apple differently than he has before. On the day of his placement for a career he is chosen to be a Giver. His family has been temporarily caring for a child who Jonas believes to be gifted like he his. The government decides the baby is too different and sentences it to death. Jonas and the baby escape leaving you to wonder what happens next.
Part I
Now onto Son. The book starts off with a girl Claire who is 16 and she was made a birth mother. She gives birth to the product, which is how families in this society get their children. Something goes wrong during her birth and they end up doing a c-section to get the baby out. After this incident Claire is deemed not a good vessel to carry kids. Before she leaves she is able to find out from a nurse she had a son and he is number 36. She is then sent to work at the hatchery which is where fish are genetically engineered and grown. In her free time Claire visits her son at the childcare center. She cannot tell anyone that he is her son or that she has feelings for him because it is against the rules. Claire finds out that the man at the center who has been caring for her son is the father of Jonas from 'The Giver'. We learn Jonas escapes with her son who we thinks name is Abe at this point. Claire finds a way out of the community during the commotion brought about by Jonas escape.
Part II
Claire ends up washed ashore in an unknown village where she is cared for by a woman who never had children of her own. Her Claire slowly regains her memory and trains to get herself ready for the journey to finding her son. Claire is tought about colors, medical things, and cooking while staying in the village. (I summed this up it wasn't interesting to me)
Part III
After Claire makes it over the mountain she trades her youth with The Trade Master so she can be with her son again who is now fairly old. Claire turns into an old lady and struggles with the decision to talk to her son who we learn is Gabe. This part is told from Gabriel's point of view. Jonas has told Gabriel as much as he can remember about the society they originated from and Gabe cannot come to terms with the fact he was essentially a factory made baby. Close to death Claire finds Jonas and confides in him the truth of why she has come to the village. Jonas tells Gabe who goes to find the Trade Master so he can save the mother he has been wishing for, for so long. Gabe defeats the Trade Master and reunites with his now young again mother.
This is a very short summation and all I can say is I am so happy I read this book. It has been a while since I read 'The Giver' and I have forgotten how opened ended it was. Once I got into reading it I didn't want to stop. It was especially interesting the parts of the story that happened at the same time The Giver happened. To read the stories as they cross paths and intertwine was so amazing considering the books are by two different authors. Long of the short is if you have read 'The Giver', read 'Son'.
