Lois Lowry
Author of The Giver
About the Author
Lois Lowry (nee Lois Ann Hammersberg) was born on March 20, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii. She was educated at both Brown University and the University of Southern Maine. Before becoming an author, she worked as a photographer and a freelance journalist. Her first book, A Summer to Die, was published show more in 1977. Since then she has written over 30 books for young adults including Gathering Blue, Messenger, the Anastasia Krupnik series, and Son. She has received numerous awards including: The New York Times Best Seller,the International Reading Association's Children's Literature Award, the American Library Association Notable Book Award Citation and two Newberry Medals for Number the Stars in 1990, and The Giver in 1993. She was also awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by Brown University in 2014. The Giver is part of a Quartet of books; it is the first book, followed by Gathering Blue, messenger and Son. The Giver has been met with a diversity of reactions from schools in America, some of which have adopted it as a part of the mandatory curriculum, while others have prohibited the book's inclusion in classroom studies. It was also made into a feature film of the same name released in 2014. Lois Lowry also made the Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2016 finalists in the author category. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Lois Lowry
Rhinos & Raspberries: Tolerance Tales For The Early Grades (2006) — Foreword — 335 copies, 7 reviews
The Worlds of Lois Lowry 3 Copy Boxed Set (The Giver, Gathering Blue, The Messenger) (2006) 143 copies, 1 review
Gooney Bird Greene Three Books in One!: (Gooney Bird Greene, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, Gooney the Fabulous) (2016) 60 copies
Rhinos & Raspberries: Tolerance Tales For The Early Grades (Teacher's Edition) (PreK-6th Grade) (2006) 31 copies
The Gooney Bird Collection: Gooney Bird Greene; Gooney Bird and the Room Mother; Gooney the Fabulous; Gooney Bird Is So Absurd (2009) 21 copies, 3 reviews
Anastasia: "Anastasia Krupnik", "Anastasia Again!", "Anastasia at Your Service" (Three-in-one) (1993) 15 copies, 1 review
Anastasia - Three of the Best: Anastasia on Her Own / Anastasia Has the Answers / Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst (1996) 10 copies
The Sam Krupnik Series: All About Sam; Attaboy, Sam!; See You Around, Sam!; Zooman Sam (2010) 6 copies
Willoughby Ailesi 2 copies
Yildizlari Saymak 2 copies
misc 1 copy
A Fearful Symmetry 1 copy
The Giver Study Guide 1 copy
Anastasia Krupnik Book Set (4) : Anstasia Again - Zooman Sam - Anastasia At This Address (An Unofficial Box Set) (2000) 1 copy
Davac 1 copy
Čuvar sećanja 1 copy
Elliot's House 1 copy
Associated Works
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales (2011) — Contributor — 979 copies, 48 reviews
Shining On: 11 Star Authors' Illuminating Stories (2006) — Contributor, some editions; Foreword, some editions — 51 copies, 1 review
Open Your Eyes: Extraordinary Experiences in Faraway Places (2003) — Contributor — 46 copies, 2 reviews
The Good Book: Writers Reflect on Favorite Bible Passages (2015) — Contributor — 46 copies, 3 reviews
Totally Middle School: Tales of Friends, Family, and Fitting In (2018) — Contributor — 21 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Hammersberg, Lois Ann
- Birthdate
- 1937-03-20
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Brown University
University of Southern Maine (B.A., English Literature, 1972) - Occupations
- children's book author
- Awards and honors
- Margaret A. Edwards Award (2007)
Regina Medal (1994) - Agent
- Emily van Beek (Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management)
- Short biography
- Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After studying at Brown University, she married, started a family, and turned her attention to writing. She is the author of more than forty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader's Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award. Several books have been adapted to film and stage, and THE GIVER has become an opera. Her newest book, ON THE HORIZON, is a collection of memories and images from Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and post-war Japan. A mother and grandmother, Ms. Lowry divides her time between Maine and Florida. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
- Places of residence
- Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA
Tokyo, Japan
Governors Island, New York, New York, USA
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (show all 7)
Portland, Maine, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
Found: Middle-grade book where MC dies at end in Name that Book (April 2023)
What Are You Reading the Week of 14 March 2015? in What Are You Reading Now? (March 2015)
YA/Children's Book - Sister with Leukemia in Name that Book (May 2011)
Reviews
As much as I disliked the first book, this one was a lot more appealing. We immediately forge a connection with the main character, and sympathize with her fate. The story is also compelling, if a bit predictable in spots, and the characters more engaging. There's still some unexplained magic, but it's more subtle, and is used with restraint to make the larger points about power structures and exploitation, the banal brutality of societal norms.
Despite the bleak judgement on how awful show more people can be, we are left with some hope that it doesn't have to be this way, that there is a better way waiting for us if only we have the courage to seek it out. show less
Despite the bleak judgement on how awful show more people can be, we are left with some hope that it doesn't have to be this way, that there is a better way waiting for us if only we have the courage to seek it out. show less
Weak development of two-dimensional characters made this the very opposite of the previous immersive “Giver” experience for me. The plot doesn’t move, the world isn’t interesting, the main character and her friends are blah, and I found the cutesy Robert Burns-like diminutives that characterize the slang of Dickensian scamp Matt obnoxious. There is a vast discrepancy between the representation of children as natural, realistic humans in “The Giver” vs. the Precious Moments show more caricatures we have here. The difference in the writing troubles me enough to put me off the rest of the series.
The fact that this installment is not a direct follow-up addressing the ending of “The Giver” (which becomes a cliffhanger once further books are added) is not my beef. Glimpses of different sections of Lowry’s “Giver” reality and resolution in the fourth book would be fine. I’m disappointed in the quality of this sequel, which feels like it was written by a different person than “The Giver”; someone with much less skill. show less
The fact that this installment is not a direct follow-up addressing the ending of “The Giver” (which becomes a cliffhanger once further books are added) is not my beef. Glimpses of different sections of Lowry’s “Giver” reality and resolution in the fourth book would be fine. I’m disappointed in the quality of this sequel, which feels like it was written by a different person than “The Giver”; someone with much less skill. show less
This book is haunting. The dystopian, disturbing parts are so subtle that they sneak up on you, but when you see how broken this world is, it stays with you.
The Giver is as much about what the author doesn't say as it is about what is described. So much is insinuated that you don't get any answers to the big questions like What Happened, or Why is The World Like This. You get bits and pieces and you need to read all four books to get an idea of what might have lead to this, but the story show more itself is so engaging that you don't mind after a while and you just go with it.
I liked that the book is told through the eyes of a child, with the logic, thoughts and questions a child might have. It's a book about trust and perfection, about what we would give up for peace and harmony, how our world would look like if we took away our differences. It sounds ideal, but beneath the surface is a deeply flawed system, but one that looks eerily plausible today. show less
The Giver is as much about what the author doesn't say as it is about what is described. So much is insinuated that you don't get any answers to the big questions like What Happened, or Why is The World Like This. You get bits and pieces and you need to read all four books to get an idea of what might have lead to this, but the story show more itself is so engaging that you don't mind after a while and you just go with it.
I liked that the book is told through the eyes of a child, with the logic, thoughts and questions a child might have. It's a book about trust and perfection, about what we would give up for peace and harmony, how our world would look like if we took away our differences. It sounds ideal, but beneath the surface is a deeply flawed system, but one that looks eerily plausible today. show less
[This is a review I wrote in 2009]
** A fun satire of old-fashioned children's classics**
This book is fun, especially for adults who have read and enjoyed all the really old-fashioned children's classics; books like Pollyanna, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, The Bobbsey Twins etc. The story satirises these old fashioned tales delightfully, with a family of very knowingly self-ironic children. Despised and neglected by their parents the children devise a plan to get rid of their show more parents, not knowing of course that mother and father have already hatched a plan to get rid of the children.
You'll find here the bossy controlling boy child, the undermined (and not allowed to play boys' games) girl, twins with the same name, an abandoned baby (project for the children), a rich benefactor... and so on. I really love the old children's classics, but also thoroughly enjoyed this take-the-mickey tale too.
My hesitation is in recommending the book for children. Taken on one level it's quite an engaging read, is funny and travels at a good pace. However, there are a lot of literary allusions and in-jokes which the majority of children today won't get or understand. True, there are probably a good number of children out there who might have read Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Garden, but the majority of jokes, or references to children's classics will pass by or confuse (or dare I say bore) many children. I certainly haven't met a child recently who's read 'The Bobbsey Twins' books. There are so many really good contemporary children's books around these days that fewer and fewer youngsters are picking up the classic stories. Try it with children (aged 10+/-) but I'm not convinced it'll be a hit.
Still, a funny and clever read for adults who love the classic children's stories. Enjoyable but not memorable, hence the 3.5 stars. show less
** A fun satire of old-fashioned children's classics**
This book is fun, especially for adults who have read and enjoyed all the really old-fashioned children's classics; books like Pollyanna, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, The Bobbsey Twins etc. The story satirises these old fashioned tales delightfully, with a family of very knowingly self-ironic children. Despised and neglected by their parents the children devise a plan to get rid of their show more parents, not knowing of course that mother and father have already hatched a plan to get rid of the children.
You'll find here the bossy controlling boy child, the undermined (and not allowed to play boys' games) girl, twins with the same name, an abandoned baby (project for the children), a rich benefactor... and so on. I really love the old children's classics, but also thoroughly enjoyed this take-the-mickey tale too.
My hesitation is in recommending the book for children. Taken on one level it's quite an engaging read, is funny and travels at a good pace. However, there are a lot of literary allusions and in-jokes which the majority of children today won't get or understand. True, there are probably a good number of children out there who might have read Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Garden, but the majority of jokes, or references to children's classics will pass by or confuse (or dare I say bore) many children. I certainly haven't met a child recently who's read 'The Bobbsey Twins' books. There are so many really good contemporary children's books around these days that fewer and fewer youngsters are picking up the classic stories. Try it with children (aged 10+/-) but I'm not convinced it'll be a hit.
Still, a funny and clever read for adults who love the classic children's stories. Enjoyable but not memorable, hence the 3.5 stars. show less
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 98
- Also by
- 19
- Members
- 118,456
- Popularity
- #68
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 3,977
- ISBNs
- 1,191
- Languages
- 28
- Favorited
- 153
