# Is "The Giver" by Lois Lowry a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Giver by Lois Lowry (Houghton Mifflin, 1993) is identified by: First edition: Houghton Mifflin 1993; full number line ending in 1; first-issue dust jacket WITHOUT the Newbery Medal (won 1994), with its printed price, with the photographic portrait of the old man on the front. US Houghton Mifflin 1993 is the true first; winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition: Houghton Mifflin 1993; full number line ending in 1; first-issue dust jacket WITHOUT the Newbery Medal (won 1994), with its printed price, with the photographic portrait of the old man on the front
- No later-printing statement
- Publisher imprint reads Houghton Mifflin
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Lois Lowry |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
| Year | 1993 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | First edition: Houghton Mifflin 1993; full number line ending in 1; first-issue dust jacket WITHOUT the Newbery Medal (won 1994), with its… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition: Houghton Mifflin 1993; full number line ending in 1; first-issue dust jacket WITHOUT the Newbery Medal (won 1994), with its printed price, with the photographic portrait of the old man on the front. No later-printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
US Houghton Mifflin 1993 is the true first; winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal. This entry documents the number-line and seal-free first-state jacket points rather than duplicating the base title already in the index.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club editions add the gold Newbery seal to the jacket, lack the number line, carry a blind-stamp, and are unpriced; first printings without the seal are markedly scarcer.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Giver* by Lois Lowry a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-giver
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.