Lowry, Lois 1937–

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Lowry, Lois 1937–

(Lois Hammersberg Lowry)

PERSONAL:

Born March 20, 1937, in Honolulu, HI; daughter of Robert E. (a dentist) and Katharine Hammersberg; married Donald Grey Lowry (an attorney), June 11, 1956 (divorced, 1977); married Martin Small; children: Alix, Grey (deceased), Kristin, Benjamin. Education: Attended Brown University, 1954-56; University of Southern Maine, B.A., 1972; graduate study. Religion: Episcopalian.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cambridge, MA. Agent—Phyllis Westberg, Harold Ober Associates, 425 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017.

CAREER:

Children's book author and photographer, 1972—.

MEMBER:

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, PEN New England, PEN American Center, Authors Guild, Authors League of America, MacDowell Colony (fellow).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Children's Literature Award, International Reading Association (IRA), Notable Book designation, American Library Association (ALA), and MA and CA state children's choice awards, all 1978, all for A Summer to Die; Children's Book of the Year citation, Child Study Association of America, and ALA Notable Book designation, both 1979, both for Anastasia Krupnik; ALA Notable Book designation, 1980, and International Board on Books for Young People Honor List citation, 1982, both for Autumn Street; ALA Notable Book designation, 1981, and American Book Award nomination in juvenile paperback category, 1983, both for Anastasia Again!; ALA Notable Book designation, 1983, for The One-Hundredth Thing about Caroline; Children's Book of the Year designation, Child Study Association of America, 1986, for Us and Uncle Fraud; NJ state children's choice award, 1986, for Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, Golden Kite Award, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and Child Study Award, Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College, all 1987, all for Rabble Starkey; Christopher Award, 1988; Newbery Medal, ALA, National Jewish Book Award, and Sidney Taylor Award, National Jewish Libraries, all 1990, all for Number the Stars; Newbery Medal, 1994, for The Giver; Children's Choice citation, IRA/Children's Book Council, 1997, for See You Around, Sam!; Hope S. Dean Memorial Award, 2003.

WRITINGS:

JUVENILE NOVELS

A Summer to Die, illustrated by Jenni Oliver, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1977.

Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1978.

Anastasia Krupnik, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1979.

Autumn Street, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1979.

Anastasia Again!, illustrated by Diane deGroat, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1981.

Anastasia at Your Service, illustrated by Diane deGroat, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1982.

Taking Care of Terrific, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1983.

Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1984.

Us and Uncle Fraud, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1984.

The One Hundredth Thing about Caroline, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1985.

Anastasia on Her Own, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1985.

Switcharound, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1985.

Anastasia Has the Answers, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1986.

Rabble Starkey, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1987.

Anastasia's Chosen Career, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1987.

All about Sam, illustrated by Diane deGroat, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1988.

Number the Stars, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1989, reprinted, Yearling (New York, NY), 2005.

Your Move, J.P.!, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1990.

Anastasia at This Address, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1991.

Attaboy, Sam!, illustrated by Diane deGroat, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1992.

The Giver, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1993.

Anastasia, Absolutely, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995.

See You Around, Sam!, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1996.

Stay!: Keeper's Story, illustrated by True Kelley, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1997.

Looking Back: A Book of Memories, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1998.

Zooman Sam, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1999.

Gathering Blue, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2000.

Gooney Bird Greene, illustrated by Middy Thomas, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2002.

The Silent Boy, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2003.

The Messenger, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2004.

Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, illustrated by Middy Thomas, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2005.

Gossamer, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2006.

Gooney the Fabulous, illustrated by Middy Thomas, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2007.

OTHER

Black American Literature (textbook), J. Weston Walsh (Portland, ME), 1973.

Literature of the American Revolution (textbook), J. Weston Walsh (Portland, ME), 1974.

(Photographer) Frederick H. Lewis, Here in Kennebunkport, Durrell (Kennebunkport, ME), 1978.

(Author of introduction) Dear Author: Students Write about the Books That Changed Their Lives, Conari Press, 1998.

(And photographer) Looking Back: A Photographic Memoir (autobiography), Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1998.

Contributor of stories, articles, and photographs to periodicals, including Redbook, Yankee, and Down East.

ADAPTATIONS:

Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye was adapted as the Afterschool Special television film "I Don't Know Who I Am," produced 1980. Taking Care of Terrific was adapted as a segment of the television series Wonderworks, 1988. Anastasia at Your Service was adapted as an audiobook for Learning Library, 1984. Anastasia Krupnik was adapted as a filmstrip, Cheshire, 1987. The Giver was adapted as a film by Todd Alcott and directed by Vadim Perelman for Twentieth Century-Fox, c. 2007. Gooney Bird Greene and Her True-Life Adventures, a dramatization by Kent R. Brown, was adapted from Gooney Bird Greene and published by Dramatic Publishing, 2005. Several of Lowry's novels have been adapted as audiobooks by Listening Library.

SIDELIGHTS:

Lois Lowry, an award-winning author of young-adult novels, is perhaps best known for the Newbery Award-winning novel Number the Stars and her futuristic trilogy consisting of The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger. Never one to shy from controversy, her novels deal with topics ranging from the death of a sibling and the Nazi occupation of Denmark to the humorous antics of a rebellious teen named Anastasia Krupnik, and to futuristic dystopian societies. Although Lowry's books explore a variety of settings and characters, she distills from her work a single unifying theme: "the importance of human connections," as she wrote on her home page.

In 1937, when Lowry was born, her father, a military dentist and career army officer, was stationed at Schofield Barracks near Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. The family separated with the onset of World War II, Lowry's father serving out his tour of duty while Lowry and her mother stayed with her mother's family in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. "I remember all these relatively normal Christmases with trees, presents, turkeys, and carols, except that they had this enormous hole in them because there was never any father figure," the author recalled in an interview for CA. This deep sense of loss is "probably why I've written a terrific father figure into all of my books—sort of a fantasy of mine while growing up." Her grandmother was not especially fond of children, but her grandfather adored her, and Lowry escaped the absolute trauma of war under the shelter of his affection. Much later, Lowry's wartime experience inspired her fourth novel, Autumn Street.

In her first novel, A Summer to Die, Lowry portrays an adolescent's effort to deal with her older sister's illness and eventual death. When the Chalmers family moves to the country for the summer, thirteen-year-old Meg and fifteen-year-old Molly are forced to share a room. Already jealous of her older sister, Meg becomes increasingly argumentative and resentful when Molly's recurring nosebleeds demand much of her parents' attention. As her sister's condition deteriorates, Meg realizes that Molly is slowly dying of leukemia. For friendship, she turns to Will Banks, an elderly neighbor who encourages the teen's interest in photography, and Ben and Maria, a hippie couple who invites Meg to photograph the birth of their child.

A Summer to Die was well received by critics. Lowry's "story captures the mysteries of living and dying without manipulating the reader's emotions, providing understanding and a comforting sense of completion," observed Linda R. Silver in School Library Journal. In fact, Lowry's tale of Meg and Molly was drawn from life; her older sister, Helen, died of cancer when Lowry was twenty-five years old. Despite its inspiration, the author has maintained that "very little of [A Summer to Die] was factual, except the emotions." Even so, "when my mother read the book she recognized the characters as my sister and me," Lowry added. "She knew that the circumstances in the book were very different, but the characters had great veracity for her."

"Until I was about twelve I thought my parents were terrific, wise, wonderful, beautiful, loving, and well-dressed," Lowry once confessed. "By age twelve and a half they turned into stupid, boring people with whom I did not want to be seen in public…. That happens to all kids, and to the kids in my books as well." These same childhood memories, combined with Lowry's experiences as a parent, inspire her most popular character: Anastasia Krupnik, the spunky, rebellious, and irreverent star of books such as Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst!, Anastasia on Her Own, and Anastasia at Your Service. In the first book of the series, Anastasia Krupnik, the ten-year-old heroine faces numerous comic crises, including a crush on a boy who is continually dribbling an imaginary basketball, and the coming arrival of a new sibling. With the passing of each crisis Anastasia gains new insight into herself, and by the book's close she is prepared to move on to a new level of maturity. "Anastasia's feelings and discoveries should be familiar to anyone who has ever been ten," noted Brad Owens in the Christian Science Monitor, "and … Lowry has a sensitive way of taking problems seriously without ever being shallow or leaning too far over into despair."

The broad audience appeal sparked by the first "Anastasia" book has prompted Lowry to write several other novels that follow the coming of age of her diminutive heroine. In Anastasia at Your Service Anastasia is now twelve years old and tackling a summer job serving as maid to a rich, elderly woman. When the woman turns out to be a classmate's grandmother, the girl must deal with the embarrassment of working for the family of a well-to-do peer. "Despite differences the girls become friends; and with the help of Anastasia's precocious brother Sam, they generate a plot that is rich, inviting, and very funny," noted Barbara Elleman in a Booklist review of Anastasia at Your Service.

The popular Anastasia has gone on to appear in over a dozen more titles, among them Anastasia Has the Answers, Anastasia's Chosen Career, and Anastasia Again! As a lovestruck thirteen year old plying the personal ads, she generates confusion in Anastasia at This Address, showcasing what a Publishers Weekly reviewer described as her "headstrong, inventive, endearing in irrepressible" self, while her unwitting tampering of the U.S. mail in Anastasia Absolutely prompts a "moral crisis" that results in what Horn Book reviewer Maeve Visser Knoth predicted would be "light, satisfying reading" for Anastasia's many fans.

"I have the feeling she's going to go on forever—or until I get sick of her," Lowry once remarked of the fictional Anastasia. While the final book in the series, Anastasia Absolutely, was published in 1995, the popular heroine's family has been introduced to younger readers via her little brother in the books Attaboy Sam!, See You around, Sam! and Zooman Sam. In Zooman Sam, Sam is on the cusp of learning to read. Acquiring the skill will allow him to be someone special, he believes: specifically, the Chief of Wonderfulness. To help him along, his mother makes Sam a special "Zooman Sam" jumpsuit for him to dress up in during Future Job Day at his nursery school (there was not enough room on the garment to fit the word "zookeeper"). With dreams of being a zookeeper, a special job indeed in a room full of children dreaming of more mundane occupations, Sam feels honored when his teacher tells him that she will let him stand at the head of the circle and tell about a different zoo animal each day for six weeks. With his budding reading skills, Sam is delighted to take on the task and enjoys the attention that comes with it. "Lowry gets everything about Sam just right," wrote Stephanie Zvirin in Booklist, while Horn Book reviewer Roger Sutton observed that the author "spins interesting variations on her theme," and wraps the book up with "a swell … surprise."

Again directed for younger readers, the title character in Lowry's chapter book Gooney Bird Greene is the newest arrival to the second grade and the most eccentric person the other students have ever seen. Leaning toward flamboyant dress (a pair of cowboy boots and pajamas one day, a polka-dot shirt and tutu the next), Gooney Bird is also a master storyteller in a small package. She delights in relating tales such as her "absolutely true" adventures of how she flew in from China on a flying carpet, how she got her "diamond earrings" (actually gumball machine trinkets) from a noble prince, and how she earned her oddball name. Encouraged in these tall tales by her teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, Gooney Bird spins out her imaginative saga, prompting her fellow students to create and tell their own stories. In the process, the entire class—and the book's reader—learns important lessons in storytelling and constructing a compelling and believable narrative. GraceAnne A. DeCandido, writing in Booklist, called Gooney Bird Greene a "laugh-out-loud" story that serves as "quite a debut" for its young heroine. The book's message and the "cleverly titled stories could spark children's interest in writing their own stories," wrote Janet B. Bair in School Library Journal. Peter D. Sieruta, reviewing Lowry's story for Horn Book, observed that Gooney Bird is "not always convincing as a character, but she's a fine storyteller, and her message to her classmates—that they, too, have stories to share—is a good one."

Like Anastasia before her, Gooney Bird reappears in several other titles. Still impressing members of Mrs. Pidgeon's second-grade class with her storytelling, she also rises to the challenge of improving her vocabulary in Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, arranging a special treat for the school's Thanksgiving celebration as well. Gooney morphs from raconteur to moralist in Gooney the Fabulous when her teacher asks each student to write a story inspired by a reading of Aesop's fables. Reviewing Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, Kristine M. Casper dubbed the book "a fast-paced read" in her School Library Journal review, the critic adding that Lowry's efforts to encourage vocabulary-building is effectively integrated into the story. Hazel Rochman wrote in Booklist that Mrs. Pidgeon's Thanksgiving Day lessons "are fun" and that Lowry's story "builds to a tense, beautiful climax." Once more "Gooney takes the lead," announced Ilene Cooper in a Booklist review of Gooney the Fabulous, the critic adding that the author "nicely individualizes her characters and gets readers interested" in Gooney and her second-grade world.

Although her "Anastasia" and "Gooney Bird Greene" stories have been popular lighthearted fare, much of Lowry's success as a novelist has come through her willingness to explore challenging and sometimes controversial teen-oriented topics. For example, she documents an adopted child's search for her biological mother in Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye. Although neither Lowry nor any of her children are adopted, she recognized that the subject was an important one that, at the time, was the subject of little focus. "Maybe it's because of having watched my own kids go through the torture of becoming adults … that I think those kinds of issues are important and it's important to deal with them in a sensitive and compassionate way," the author once noted.

Based on a factual account, Number the Stars is an historical novel set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Denmark. In this 1990 novel—the first of Lowry's books to receive the Newbery honor—ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her family are drawn into the resistance movement. As narrated by Annemarie, the book follows the family's efforts to shuttle Jews from Denmark into neutral Sweden during World War II, an activity that helped ensure the survival of nearly all of Denmark's Jewish population. The book "avoids explicit description of the horrors of war, yet manages to convey without oversimplification the sorrow felt by so many people who were forced to flee their homeland," wrote a Children's Literature Review critic. As quoted in School Library Journal, Newbery Awards Committee chair Caroline Ward commented that in Number the Stars "Lowry creates suspense and tension without wavering from the viewpoint of Annemarie, a child who shows the true meaning of courage."

Lowry received a second Newbery Medal for her 1993 novel The Giver. A radical departure from her previous works, the novel introduces readers to a futuristic utopian world wherein every aspect of life—birth, death, families, career choices, emotions, even the weather—is strictly controlled in order to create a safe and comfortable community where humans can live with no fear of violence. Living in this community, twelve-year-old Jonas is looking forward to an important rite of passage: the ceremony in which he, along with all children his age, is to be assigned a life's vocation. Skipped during the ceremony, Jonas is ultimately selected for a unique position when he is assigned to become the new Receiver, a prestigious and powerful person charged with holding all the memories of the community. During his apprenticeship to the current Receiver, an elderly man whom Jonas calls The Giver, the boy begins learning about the things—memories, emotions, and knowledge—that the community has given up in favor of peace. At first, these memories are pleasant: images of snow, colors, feelings of love. But Jonas soon encounters the darker aspects of human experience—war, death, and pain—and discovers that elderly or infirm community members who are "Released" are actually being euthanized. This discovery leads the boy to escape from the community with his young foster brother Gabriel.

Lowry ends The Giver with an interestingly ambiguous ending in which readers are left unsure of the boys' fate. In a companion novel, Gathering Blue, she describes a technologically primitive world in which, as she states in her author's note, "disorder, savagery, and self-interest" rule. As in The Giver, a child is chosen to play a special role in this society. In this world, the child is Kira. Born with a twisted leg—a condition that would normally have resulted in her being put to death as a baby—Kira was somehow allowed to live. Now a talented seamstress, she is chosen to be The Threader, a person whose duty it is to create the robe of The Singer. This garment depicts the history of the world and is used in the society's annual ritual of the Gathering. As The Threader, Kira begins to learn the dark secrets prompting her society's rules and must ultimately make a life-altering choice.

Many reviewers praised both The Giver and Gathering Blue for their sensitive handling of serious themes, a Publishers Weekly reviewer hailing Gathering Blue as a "dark, prophetic tale with a strong medieval flavor." Kay Bowes, writing in Book Report, called that same novel "thought-provoking" and "challenging," while a Horn Book writer wrote that Gathering Blue "shares the thematic concerns of The Giver … [but] adds a layer of questions about the importance of art in creating and, more ominously, controlling community." Ellen Fader, writing in School Library Journal, concluded that with Gathering Blue "Lowry has once again created a fully-realized world," adding that "readers won't forget these memorable characters or their struggles in an inhospitable world."

Messenger continues the story begun in The Giver and Gathering Blue. Entering the forest sanctuary of "The Village" as a young refugee, Matty has come to love his new home and respect the community's shared values. Now a teen, he has been guided toward adulthood by a blind man named Seer. Increasingly politically aware as he matures, Matty senses that a change has come over those in The Village whom he once respected; rather than welcoming newcomers, most in the community have become greedy and jealous. Unwilling to share their good fortune, they are now determined to wall themselves off from the rest of the world. A young man named Leader, guide of The Village (in fact, Jonah from The Giver), is also concerned about this change. When Village members vote to prohibit the influx of more outsiders, Matty is sent by Leader to find Seer's daughter Kira (from Gathering Blue). Making his way through the harsh forest environment outside the Village, the teen hopes to reunite Kira with her father before the opportunity is lost forever. Although Kira is lame and the journey to Seer is arduous, she selflessly refuses to take advantage of Matty's skill as a healer because use of this power seems to cause Matty harm.

Calling Messenger "simply and beautifully written" in her review for the New York Times Book Review, Hazel Rochman noted the book's position as the third volume in Lowry's loosely knit trilogy. Rereading both The Giver and Gathering Blue, she noted that these two volumes contain "unresolved endings." While Lowry's unwillingness to create a strong resolution in her futuristic novels might be problematic for some reviewers, "others [have] applauded." "While Messenger may tie the three stories together just a little too neatly," Rochman added, "it is still far from a sweet resolution. Up to the last anguished page, Lois Lowry shows how hard it is to build community," leaving readers with the same frustration that her main characters experience. "Lowry's many fans will welcome this return to the fascinating world she has created," wrote Paula Rohrlick in a Kliatt review of Messenger, the critic also citing "the provocative issues she raises" in the suspenseful novel. "Lowry's skillful writing imbues the story with a strong sense of foreboding," concluded Marie Orlando in a review of the novel for School Library Journal, while in Kirkus Reviews a critic predicted that "readers will be absorbed in thought and wonder long after" the final page of Messenger is turned.

In The Silent Boy Lowry again takes up a solemn theme, introducing Katy Thatcher, Kate's physician father, and their life in a small New England town during the early part of the twentieth century. Peggy Stoltz, a local girl who helps on the Thatcher farm, is Katy's best friend. Peggy has a brother named Jacob, as well as a sister named Nell who works on the farm next to the Thatchers' place. Jacob, considered an "imbecile," or "touched in the head," is a gentle thirteen year old who never speaks but has a profound ability to handle and communicate with animals. After Katy knits together a tenuous friensship with Jacob, she begins to sense the wonder in his affinity with animals. Meanwhile, the girl has trouble dealing with the realities of country life, with her upcoming tenth birthday, and with the arrival of a new baby in her family. Nell also expects a baby, the result of a relationship with her employers' son. Ultimately, things come to a head after Jacob disappears with Nell's unwanted and unnamed infant and the baby then turns up dead. Katy cannot believe that the sensitive and gentle Jacob could commit an act of murder, even one that, in his mind, may have been completely acceptable or even desirable. Jacob is eventually incarcerated in an asylum, leaving Katy haunted by the tragedy of his life. "Lowry's graceful, lively prose is dense with historical details," remarked Gillian Engberg in a Booklist review of The Silent Boy. Ellen Fader, writing in School Library Journal, noted of the novel that "Lowry excels in developing strong and unique characters and in showing Katy's life in a small town that changes around her as the first telephones and automobiles arrive." The novel's storyline "balances humor and generosity with the obstacles and injustice of Katy's world," a Publishers Weekly reviewer wrote, while a Kirkus Reviews writer deemed the novel "a tragedy deftly foreshadowed."

While The Giver and its sequels was classified by several reviewers as science fiction, in her novel Gossamer Lowry steps clearly into the realm of fantasy. Dubbed "spellbinding" by a Publishers Weekly contributor, the story introduces Littlest One, a young creature who, as a member of a race of dream givers, is learning to practice her ancestral art. In touching the objects that make up a certain human's day, dream givers collect threads of memories, sounds, and images, using these to weave together the dreams that fill the minds of the sleeping. Working with experienced teacher Thin Elderly, Littlest is assigned to practice her art in the home of an elderly foster mother, where she comes in contact with John, the woman's troubled young charge. As her skills develop, the dream giver creates images that reflect the healthy relationship developing between John and his foster mother, but as part of her work she must also fight off the efforts of the Sinisteeds, who find in John the perfect vehicle for their horrific nightmares. Reviewing Gossamer, the Publishers Weekly contributor cited Lowry for her "exquisite, at times mesmerizing writing," while Lauralyn Persson wrote in School Library Journal that the author's "carefully plotted fantasy has inner logic and conviction." Noting that Gossamer is "written with Lowry's characteristic elegance and economy, and with her usual attentiveness to the internal consistency of her imaginary world," James Hynes concluded in his New York Times Book Review appraisal that the novel is "enormously entertaining and … very moving."

While many of Lowry's children's books draw on pleasant memories and experiences from their author's past, as her career has stretched through the years from parenthood to grandparenthood, she has continued to collect experiences, both tragic and joyful. She sifts through this lifetime of remembrances and attempts and in Looking Back: A Book of Memories. locates threads of stories and patterns in these experience. More like a visit from a favorite friend than an autobiography, Looking Back is "much more intimate and personal than many traditional memoirs," according to School Library Journal contributor Barbara Scotto, while a Publishers Weekly reviewer observed of the book that "a compelling and inspirational portrait of the author emerges from these vivid snapshots of life's joyful, sad, and surprising moments."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

American Women Writers, 2nd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2000.

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 32, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 2000.

Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults, Beacham Publishing (Osprey, FL), 1990, Volume 4, 1990, Volume 6, 1994.

Chaston, Joel D., Lois Lowry, Twayne (New York, NY), 1997.

Children's Literature Review, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), Volume 6, 1984, Volume 46, 1997, Volume 72, pp. 192-206.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 52: American Writers for Children since 1960: Fiction, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1987, pp. 249-261.

Green, Carol Hurd, and Mary Grimley Mason, editors, American Women Writers, Volume 5, Continuum Publishing (New York, NY), 1994.

Lowry, Lois, Looking Back: A Book of Memories, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1998.

St. James Guide to Young-Adult Writers, 2nd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Silvey, Anita, editor, Children's Books and Their Creators, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1995.

Something about the Author Autobiography Series, Volume 3, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1986, pp. 131-146.

PERIODICALS

Book, May-June, 2003, review of Gooney Bird Greene, p. 31.

Booklist, October 15, 1979, Barbara Elleman, review of Anastasia Krupnik, p. 354; September 1, 1982, Barbara Elleman, review of Anastasia at Your Service, p. 46; September 1, 1987, review of Anastasia's Chosen Career, pp. 66-67; March 1, 1990, Ilene Cooper, review of Your Move, J.P.!, p. 1345; April 1, 1991, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Anastasia at This Address, p. 1564; October 1, 1995, Carolyn Phelan, review of Anastasia, Absolutely, p. 761; November 1, 1997, Ellen Mandel, review of Stay!: Keeper's Story, p. 472; November 1, 1998, Carolyn Phelan, review of Looking Back, p. 490; July, 1, 1999, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Zooman Sam, p. 1947; September 15, 1999, review of Looking Back, p. 254; June 1, 2000, Ilene Cooper, review of Gathering Blue, p. 1896; September 1, 2002, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Gooney Bird Greene, p. 125; April 15, 2003, Gillian Engberg, review of The Silent Boy, p. 1462; February 15, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Messenger, p. 1056; March 1, 2005, Hazel Rochman, review of Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, p. 1197; February 15, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of Gossamer, p. 99; January 1, 2007, Ilene Cooper, review of Gooney the Fabulous, p. 81.

Book Report, May, 1999, review of Looking Back, p. 73; January 2001, Kay Bowes, review of Gathering Blue, p. 58.

Books for Keeps, January, 2002, review of Gathering Blue, p. 26.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January, 1980, Zena Sutherland, review of Anastasia Krupnik, p. 99; May, 1984, Zena Sutherland, review of Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst, p. 169; March, 1990, Ruth Ann Smith, review of Your Move, J.P.!, p. 169; April, 1993, p. 257; September, 1995, Deborah Stevenson, review of Anastasia, Absolutely, pp. 20-21; November, 1996, p. 105; January, 1998, Janice Del Negro, review of Stay!, p. 165; January, 1999, Janice Del Negro, review of Looking Back, p. 174; September, 1999, review of Zooman Sam, p. 21; June, 2004, Krista Hutley, review of Messenger, p. 427; July-August, 2006, April Spisak, review of Gossamer, p. 507.

Catholic Library World, September, 1999, review of See You Around, Sam, p. 33.

Children's Bookwatch, March, 1999, review of Looking Back, p. 6; December, 1999, review of Zooman Sam, p. 4; March, 2001, review of Looking Back, p. 8.

Children's Literature (annual), 2004, Don Latham, "Discipline and Its Discontents: A Foucauldian Reading of ‘The Giver,’" pp. 134-151.

Christian Science Monitor, January 14, 1980, Brad Owens, review of Anastasia Krupnik, p. B6; March 1, 1985, Lyn Littlfield Hoopes, review of Us and Uncle Fraud, p. 65; May 1, 1987, Betsy Hearne, "Families Shaped by Love, Not Convention," pp. B3-B4.

Five Owls, April, 1989, pp. 59-60; September-October, 1993, Gary D. Schmidt, review of The Giver, pp. 14-15; March, 2001, review of Gathering Blue, p. 92.

Horn Book, August, 1977, Mary M. Burns, review of A Summer to Die, p. 451; December, 1979, Ann A. Flowers, review of Anastasia Krupnik, p. 663; October, 1981, Mary M. Burns, review of Anastasia Again!, pp. 535-536; September-October, 1985, Ann A. Flowers, review of Anastasia on Her Own, pp. 556-557; May-June, 1986, Mary M. Burns, review of Anastasia Has the Answers, pp. 327-328; July-August, 1987, Ann A. Flowers, review of Rabble Starkey, pp. 463-465; May-June, 1989, Mary M. Burns, review of Number the Stars, p. 371; March-April, 1990, Ethel R. Twitchell, review of Your Move, J.P.!, pp. 201-202; July-August, 1990, Shirley Haley-James, "Lois Lowry"; November-December, 1993, Patty Campbell, "The Sand in the Oyster," pp. 717-721; July-August, 1994, Lois Lowry, "Newbery Medal Acceptance," pp. 414-422, Walter Lorraine, "Lois Lowry," pp. 423-426; November-December, 1995, Maeve Visser Knoth, review of Anastasia, Absolutely, p. 761; September-October, 1996, Roger Sutton, review of See You Around, Sam!, p. 597; January-February, 1998, Roger Sutton, review of Stay!, pp. 76-77; January, 1999, Peter D. Sieruta, review of Looking Back, p. 87; September, 1999, Roger Sutton, review of Zooman Sam, p. 613; September, 2000, Roger Sutton, review of Gathering Blue, p. 573; September-October, 2002, Peter D. Sieruta, review of Gooney Bird Greene, pp. 575-577; May-June, 2004, Betty Carter, review of Messenger, p. 332; July-August, 2006, review of Gossamer, p. 446.

Instructor, May, 1999, review of The Giver, p. 16; May, 1999, review of See You Around, Sam, p. 16; May, 2001, review of The Giver, p. 37.

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, September, 2004, Lori Atkins Goodson, review of The Silent Boy, p. 75, and Jo Ann Yazzie, review of Messenger, p. 80.

Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, fall, 1996, pp. 39-40, 49.

Junior Bookshelf, August, 1979, Mary Hobbs, review of A Summer to Die, pp. 224-225; August, 1980, p. 194.

Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 1986, review of Anastasia Has the Answers, pp. 546-547; March 1, 1987, review of Rabble Starkey, p. 374; March 15, 1991, review of Anastasia at This Address, p. 396; March 1, 1993, review of The Giver, p. 301; October 15, 1997, review of Stay!, p. 1584; July 15, 1999, review of Zooman Sam, p. 1135; March 15, 2003, review of The Silent Boy, p. 472; April 1, 2004, review of Messenger, p. 333; April 1, 2005, review of Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, p. 420; March 1, 2006, review of Gossamer, p. 235.

Kliatt, March, 2004, Paula Rohrlick, review of Messenger, p. 12.

New York Times Book Review, May 21, 1989, Edith Milton, "Escape from Copenhagen," p. 32; October 31, 1993, Karen Ray, review of The Giver, p. 26; January 14, 1996, Michael Cart, review of Anastasia, Absolutely, p. 23; October 15, 1998, review of Looking Back, p. 1534; February 14, 1999, review of Looking Back, p. 27; November 19, 2003, Elizabeth Spires, review of Gathering Blue, p. 57; May 16, 2004, Hazel Rochman, "Something's Rotten in Utopia," p. 17; May 14, 2006, James Hynes, review of Gossamer, p. 21.

Observer (London, England), October 21, 2001, review of Gathering Blue, p. 16.

Publishers Weekly, November 8, 1985, review of Switcharound, p. 60; February 21, 1986, interview with Lowry, pp. 152-153; March 13, 1987, p. 86; March 15, 1991, review of Anastasia at This Address, p. 58; July 28, 1997, review of Stay!, p. 75; August 24, 1998, review of Looking Back, p. 58; April 5, 1999, review of Stay!, p. 243; September 13, 1999, review of Zooman Sam, p. 85; July 31, 2000, review of Gathering Blue, p. 96; March 24, 2003, review of The Silent Boy, p. 76, and Ingrid Roper, interview with Lowry, p. 77; March 6, 2006, review of Gossamer, p. 74.

Reading Teacher, March, 2001, review of Gathering Blue, p. 638.

School Librarian, February, 1995, pp. 31-32.

School Library Journal, May, 1977, Linda R. Silver, review of A Summer to Die, pp. 62-63; April, 1980, Marilyn Singer, review of Autumn Street, pp. 125-126; March, 1981, p. 109; October, 1981, Marilyn Kaye, review of Anastasia Again!, p. 144; October, 1983, Kathleen Brachmann, review of The One Hundredth Thing about Caroline, p. 160; February, 1986, Maria B. Salvadore, review of Switcharound, p. 87; September, 1987, Dudley B. Carlson, review of Anastasia's Chosen Career, p. 180; August, 1988, Trev Jones, review of All about Sam, p. 96; March, 1989, Louise L. Sherman, review of Number the Stars, p. 177; May, 1992, Marcia Hupp, review of Attaboy, Sam!, p. 114; October, 1996, Starr LaTronica, review of See You Around, Sam!, p. 102; October, 1997, Eva Mitnick, review of Stay!, p. 134; September, 1998, Barbara Scotto, review of Looking Back, p. 221; September, 1999, review of Zooman Sam, p. 193; August, 2000, Ellen Fader, review of Gathering Blue, p. 186; November, 2002, Janet B. Bair, review of Gooney Bird Greene, pp. 129-130; April, 2003, Ellen Fader, review of The Silent Boy, pp. 164-165; April, 2004, Marie Orlando, review of Messenger, p. 50; May, 2005, Kristine M. Casper, review of Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, p. 90; May, 2006, Lauralyn Persson, review of Gossamer, p. 132.

Signal, May, 1980, pp. 119-122.

Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 1985, p. 186; April, 1988, p. 26; August, 1993, p. 167; December, 1995, p. 304; April, 1999, review of Looking Back, p. 76; August, 1999, review of Looking Back, p. 164; April, 2001, review of Gathering Blue, p. 12; February, 2005, review of Messenger, p. 443.

Washington Post Book World, May 9, 1993, p. 15.