This book though! 
 It was one of those books that once I was done reading, I set it down and thought about it for ages... 
 I, as many other kids, had to read this in 6th grade. At the time, I just thought 'okay, its another schoolbook'. I've recently re-read it, and it is now one of my favorites. There are so many things that I had not noticed at a younger age! 
 However, I think that classifying this book as a children's book is a bit overconfident. More like YA in my opinion. 
 I love how it is written, and how simple ideas make the story what it is. Even though it is clearly dystopian to older readers, it is still presented from the point of view of a child, making it seem more gentle and almost 'normal'. (More information on that below) 
 (And yes I found the movie disappointing, but not too awful =p ) 
 **SPOILERS** 
 For example, the fact that the entire community sees the world in black and white, and that Jonas, the protagonist, notices that he is different because something changes about his surroundings (he starts seeing the color red). We, as readers, do not notice this difference in color until the Giver says 'you are starting to see the color red'. Then, the book takes on a whole new dimension that changes how we read it. This kind of twist happens very often throughout the novel, you just have to notice it! 
 This is clearly dystopian, but not in the way that many books are today. This seemed more strict in its rules, yet presented in a more gentle way. I found this mix absolutely fascinating. One example of this is when the newchildren, if twins, are weighed. The lightest one would be 'released'. As a more mature reader, we know that this means the newchild would die, yet they way it is written makes it seem, as I said, more gentle, and somewhat innocent.