Lois Lowry facts for kids

Lois Lowry (born March 20, 1937) is a famous American writer. She writes many books for children and young adults. Some of her most well-known books include The Giver Quartet series, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. Lowry is known for writing about important and sometimes difficult topics. She often explores complex ideas in her stories for young readers.

Lowry has won two big awards called the Newbery Medal. She won for Number the Stars in 1990 and for The Giver in 1994. Her book Gooney Bird Greene also won the Rhode Island Children's Book Award in 2002. Many of her books, especially The Giver, are discussed a lot in schools and libraries because of their deep themes.

Lois Lowry's Early Life

Lois Lowry was born on March 20, 1937. Her birthplace was Honolulu, which was then part of the Territory of Hawaii. Her parents were Katherine Gordon Landis and Robert E. Hammersberg. When she was born, her parents first named her "Cena." But her grandmother asked them to choose an American name instead.

Lois was the middle child in her family. She had an older sister named Helen and a younger brother named Jon. Helen passed away in 1962, but Lois and her brother Jon are still very close.

Her father was an army dentist. Because of his job, Lois and her family moved around a lot. They lived in many different places in the United States and other parts of the world.

Moving Around as a Child

When Lois was three years old, in 1940, her family moved from Hawaii to Brooklyn, New York. In 1942, they moved again to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This was her mother's hometown. Her father was sent to the Pacific during World War II.

Lois started reading when she was only three years old. She was a very bright student. After finishing first grade, she skipped second grade at the Franklin School in Carlisle.

After World War II ended, Lois's family moved to Tokyo, Japan. Her father was stationed there from 1948 to 1952. Lois went to seventh and eighth grades at the American School in Japan. This school was for children of military families.

When the Korean War began in 1950, she returned to the United States. Her family lived in Carlisle again for a short time. She attended her freshman year of high school there. Then, they moved to Governors Island, New York. Her father was assigned to First Army Headquarters.

Lois briefly attended Curtis High School on Staten Island. She then graduated from high school at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights, New York. This was from 1952 to 1954. After high school, she went to Pembroke College. This college later joined with Brown University. There, she met her future husband, Donald Grey Lowry.

Family Life and Education

Lois left college in 1956 when she married Donald Grey Lowry. He was an officer in the U.S. Navy. They moved many times to different cities. These included San Diego, New London, Key West, Charleston, Cambridge, and Portland, Maine.

They had four children: two daughters named Alix and Kristin, and two sons named Grey and Benjamin. While raising her children, Lois went back to school. She finished her degree in English literature at the University of Southern Maine in 1972. After getting her bachelor's degree, she continued her studies at the university.

In 1977, when Lois was 40 years old, her first book was published. It was called A Summer to Die. In the same year, she and Donald Lowry divorced. Later, she had a long relationship with Martin Small for over 30 years. He passed away in 2011. Since 2014, she has been in a relationship with Howard Corwin.

In 1995, Lois's son Grey passed away. He was a major in the U.S. Air Force and a flight instructor. Lois has said this was the hardest day of her life. She shared that his passing made her want to help find ways to end conflict in the world.

As of 2023, Lois Lowry lives in both Maine and Naples, Florida. She is still an active writer and speaker.

Lois Lowry's Writing Journey

Lois Lowry at an event for the film adaption of The Giver in 2014

Lois Lowry started her career as a freelance journalist. In the 1970s, she wrote a short story for Redbook magazine. It was meant for adults but told from a child's point of view. An editor at Houghton Mifflin read her story. The editor suggested that Lois should write a children's book.

Lois agreed and wrote her first book, A Summer to Die. Houghton Mifflin published it in 1977. This book was inspired by Lois's own experiences with her sister Helen. It explored the theme of serious illness.

Exploring Important Themes

Lowry continued to write about challenging topics. Her next book was Autumn Street, published in 1979. This novel explores how a young girl deals with racism, grief, and fear. The story is told from the perspective of a young girl. She is sent to live with her grandfather during World War II. This was also based on Lois's own childhood experiences. Many people consider Autumn Street to be her most personal book.

In the same year, 1979, Lowry also published Anastasia Krupnik. This was the first book in her popular Anastasia series. The series deals with serious topics but in a funny way. The Anastasia series continued until 1995.

Award-Winning Books

Lois Lowry published Number the Stars in 1989. This book won many awards, including the 1990 Newbery Medal. She received another Newbery Medal in 1994 for The Giver, which was published in 1993.

After The Giver, she wrote three more books that take place in the same world. These are Gathering Blue (2000), Messenger (2004), and Son (2012). Son connected all the previous books together. These four books are known as The Giver Quartet. The New York Times described this series as a guide. It helps children and their parents learn how to be good people.

In early 2020, Lois Lowry released a book of poetry. It is called On the Horizon. This book shares her childhood memories of living in Hawaii and Tokyo. It also remembers the lives lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the bombing of Hiroshima.

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, a publishing company asked Lowry to write a new introduction. It was for a book called Like the Willow Tree. This story is about a young girl who lost her parents during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic. The book was first published in 2011 and reissued in September 2020.

Impact of Lois Lowry's Work

A writer named Joel Chaston has described Lois Lowry as a very important American writer for children. Her books have had a big influence on young readers.

Awards and Honors

Lois Lowry has won many awards for her books. She won the prestigious Newbery Medal twice. First, in 1990 for Number the Stars, and again in 1994 for The Giver. For Number the Stars, she also received the National Jewish Book Award in 1990. She also won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award in 1991.

In 1994, Lowry was given the Regina Medal. In 2002, her book Gooney Bird Greene won the Rhode Island Children's Book Award.

Lowry has been nominated three times for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. This is a very high honor for children's book creators. She was a finalist in 2000 and 2016, and a U.S. nominee in 2004.

In 2007, she received the Margaret Edwards Award. This award is from the American Library Association. It recognizes writers who have made a lasting contribution to young adult literature. Lowry won for The Giver. The award committee noted that The Giver was one of the most discussed books from 1990 to 2000. They said its deep themes make it a perfect book for teens to read and discuss.

She has also won other awards. These include a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, an Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature, a Golden Kite Award, and a Hope S. Dean Memorial Award.

In 2011, she gave a special lecture called "UNLEAVING: The Staying Power of Gold." She has also received honorary degrees from six universities. These include Brown University and the University of Southern Maine.

Lois Lowry's Books

Children's Book Series

The Giver Quartet

• The Giver (1993)
• Gathering Blue (2000)
• Messenger (2004)
• Son (2012)

Anastasia Krupnik Series

• Anastasia Krupnik (1979)
• Anastasia Again! (1981)
• Anastasia at Your Service (1982)
• Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst (1984)
• Anastasia on Her Own (1985)
• Anastasia Has the Answers (1986)
• Anastasia's Chosen Career (1987)
• Anastasia at This Address (1991)
• Anastasia Absolutely (1995)

Sam Krupnik Series

• All about Sam (1988)
• Attaboy, Sam! (1992)
• See You Around, Sam! (1996)
• Zooman Sam (1999)

Tate Family Series

• The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline (1983)
• Switcharound (1985)
• Your Move, J.P.! (1990)

Gooney Bird Series

• Gooney Bird Greene (2002)
• Gooney Bird and the Room Mother (2006)
• Gooney the Fabulous (2007)
• Gooney Bird Is So Absurd (2009)
• Gooney Bird on the Map (2011)
• Gooney Bird and All Her Charms (2014)

Other Novels

• A Summer to Die (1977)
• Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye (1978)
• Autumn Street (1980)
• Taking Care of Terrific (1983)
• Us and Uncle Fraud (1984)
• Rabble Starkey (1987)
• Number the Stars (1989)
• The Big Book for Peace (1990)
• Stay! Keeper's Story (1997)
• The Silent Boy (2003)
• Gossamer (2006)
• The Willoughbys (2008)
• Crow Call (2009)
• The Birthday Ball (2010)
• Bless This Mouse (2011)
• Like the Willow Tree (2011)
• The Willoughbys Return (2020)
• "The Windeby Puzzle" (2023)

Other Works

• Here in Kennebunkport (1978)
• Governors Island Teenager (2020)
• On the Horizon (2020)

Book and Film Adaptations

Some of Lois Lowry's books have been made into movies:

• The Giver (2014) was a film directed by Phillip Noyce.
• The Willoughbys (2020) was an animated film. It was based on her book with the same name. This movie was released on Netflix and narrated by Ricky Gervais.