Week in Insights: The Differences Are What Make Us Better

A few months ago, my book club was discussing novels we’d read in the past that had made an impact on us in some way. We each listed seven books, and of the 10 or so in attendance, three of us mentioned “The Giver.” The conversation inspired me to reread Lois Lowry’s award-winning YA novel for the first time since childhood.

Jonas, the book’s protagonist, has grown up in a world with no music, no variations in temperature, and not even any color. There’s no such thing as difference or choice in this world—because, you see, differences and choices can ...