The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver is a book about a young boy who lives in a very strict environment; there are no such things as trees, hills, rain, snow, sunshine, flowers, or even colors. These people do not even know that they exist. At each age (until the age of twelve), one is given a ceremony. At the age of 8 you must give up your comfort object, at the age of nine you get a bike. But at the age of twelve you get something that each boy and girl dreams of: a job. When Jonas (the boy) turns twelve he expects to get something boring like engineer or nurturer but he gets something much more interesting.