In Jonas's highly structured community, there is an annual ceremony each December where the citizens gather to celebrate the developmental stages and maturation of the community's youth. As the children become older, they are given various items and privileges that identify and represent their particular age group. For example, the Sevens each receive a front-buttoned jacket, which is a sign of their independence. Before turning seven years old, the children are required to wear jackets with buttons down the back, which are designed to nurture interdependence. All Fours, Fives, and Sixes are required to wear jackets that button down the back so that they are forced to rely on their peers for help while getting dressed. As an Eight, Lily receives a jacket with pockets, which indicates that she is mature enough to keep track of her own small belongings. As a Nine, the children each receive their own bicycles. The bicycles represent their independence and maturation.

We do not have a great deal of information about what happens when children turn this particular age in The Giver, although we do know that as the book begins, Jonas' sister Lily is a Seven. We also know that Lily is still permitted to have her comfort object, which is an elephant, until she is an Eight, and that she must wait until she is a Nine to have a bicycle.  The one detail about turning seven that is provided is that children get front-buttoned jackets during the ceremony. Before that, as Fours, Fives, and Sixes, children wear jackets that button in the back, to encourage them to help one another, and getting the front-buttoned jacket is a symbol of beginning to grow up. Lily was quite happy to get her jacket at the Ceremony of Seven.