Phillip Stein (shown here with State Representative Cleon Turner) was awarded at the statehouse for his essay, below:

11/20/05

Dear Lois Lowry,

Innocence is a funny thing, like a bubble that surrounds you and protects you from the dangers of the world. Inside that bubble, float your idea that the there's always a happy ending, your hope of becoming famous, and your belief that everything is fair. So what happens when that bubble finally pops from the strain of years of pressure and curiosity and slowly deflates around you, taking with it all your wildest hopes and dreams, as well as your sense of safety?

The Giver took me on a heartfelt journey, full of both relief and distress, and by the end it had changed my life. I was a new person. The Giver opened new doors and possibilities to my tiny mind. Suddenly I had all sorts of questions but very few answers. The Giver showed me perfection, it showed me happiness, and it showed me pain. But what I liked most was it made me think. The Giver left profound passages and messages behind, like a trail of breadcrumbs, inviting the mind to explore new worlds and ideas, which would've otherwise remained unknown. This is why I enjoyed the ending of the book so much, because it was ambiguous. The Giver led me along a path, but let me decide where it went. It was almost as if the book was saying life doesn't have definite endings; but that's for you to decide. It made me think not just as a reader, but as a person, too. It taught me to stand up for what I believe in and not get so caught up in my bubble that I forget to listen to myself.

When I first started reading The Giver my bubble was guiding me along when suddenly it popped all around me, and as it was slowly, painfully deflating I realized I was alone, with no comforting thoughts to keep me happy, or kind words to keep me strong, just a dot on a sheet of paper. But I did have something that I didn't have before, I had hit the sharp nail that was The Giver, it left me with a question: "Why?"

Sincerely,
Philip Stein