Spotlight on Author Lois Lowry

Two-time Newbery Medal Winner

Author Lois Lowry is best known for The Giver, her dark, thought provoking, and contoversial fantasy, which is a young adult novel, and for Number the Stars, a children's novel about the Holocaust. Lois Lowry received the prestigious Newbery Medal for each of these books. However, what many people don't know is that Lowry has written more than thirty books for children and young teens, including several series.

Lois Lowry: Her Life

Although Lois Lowry grew up with an older sister and a younger brother, she reports, "I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination." She was born in Hawaii on March 20, 1937. Lowry's father was in the military, and the family moved a lot, spending time in various states and in Japan.

After two years at Brown University, Lowry married. Like her father, her husband was in the military and they moved a good deal, finally settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts when he entered law school. They had four children, two boys and two girls (Tragically, one of their sons, an Air Force pilot, died in a plane crash in 1995).

The family lived in Maine while the children were growing up. Lowry received her degree from the University of Southern Maine, went to graduate school, and began writing professionally. After her divorce in 1977, she returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts where she still lives; she also spends time at her home in Maine.

Lois Lowry: Her Books

Lois Lowry's first book, A Summer to Die, which was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1977, was awarded the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award. Since then, she has written more than thirty books for children and young teens and has received numerous honors. Lois Lowry received the prestigious Newbery Medal for two of her books: Number the Stars and The Giver. Other honors include the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award.

Some of Lowry's books, like the Anatasia Krupnik and Sam Krupnik series provide a humorous look at daily life and are geared for readers in grades 4-6 (8-12 year olds). Others, while targeting the same age level, are more serious, such as Number the Stars, a story about the Holocaust. One of her series, which she is planning to expand, the Gooney Bird Greene series, targets even younger children, those in grades 3-5 (7-10 year olds).

Many of Lois Lowry's most serious, and highly regarded, books are considered young adult books. They are written for children in grades 7 and up (12 years old and up). They include A Summer to Die, and The Giver fantasy trilogy. Her newest book, Gossamer, which is also a fantasy, is for children in grades 5 and up (10 years old and up).

In discussing her books, Lois Lowry explained,

My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.

The Giver is fourteenth on the American Library Association's list of The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000. To learn more, see In Their Own Words: Authors Talk About Censorship, in which Lowry discusses reactions to The Giver and states,

Submitting to censorship is to enter the seductive world of The Giver: the world where there are no bad words and no bad deeds. But it is also the world where choice has been taken away and reality distorted. And that is the most dangerous world of all.

Lois Lowry: Her Web Site

Lois Lowry's official Web site is divided into four main sections: Books, Speeches, Biography, and F.A.Q. She also provides her email address and a schedule of appearances. In addition, Lowry has a blog in which she discusses her books, appearances, and travel experiences.

In the Books section, there are annotated lists of the books in her Anastasia Krupnik series, Sam Krupnik series, her books about the Tates, The Giver trilogy, and her Gooney Bird books, as well as an annotated list of ten other books, including her first Newbery Medal winner, Number the Stars (compare prices).

The Speeches section includes more than a half dozen speeches, each available in PDF format. My favorite is her 1994 Newbery Medal acceptance speech because of all of the information she gives about how specific life experiences influenced her writing of The Giver (compare prices).

The Biography section consists of a first person account of Lois Lowry's life, written for her readers. It contains lots of links to family photos, many of which are from Lois' childhood. There are also photos of Lois as a bride and photos of her children and grandchildren.

In the entertaining F.A.Q. section, she answers specific, and often amusing, questions that readers have asked her. According to Lowry, the most frequently asked question is, "How do you get your ideas?" There are also questions (and answers) about sequels, titles, the ending of The Giver, school visits, her family, and the movie version of The Giver.

All of Lois Lowry's Web site is written for the children and teens who read her books, except the Speeches section and her blog, which are written for adults.

Lois Lowry: What Do You and Your Children Think of Her Books?

Have you and/or your children read any of Lois Lowry's children's fiction? Share your opinions and recommendations of books by Lois Lowry. Join the discussion about Lois Lowry's books on the About Children’s Books Forum.