By Rachel Nilles
Lowry was born on March
20, 1937, in Hawaii. Lowry's
father was a career military
officer, an Army dentist,
whose work moved the
family all over the United
States and to many parts of
the world. From the time she
was eight Lois Lowry wanted
to be a writer. Writing was
what she liked best in school.
Lowry at age 3
Following World War II, Lowry
and her family moved to Tokyo,
Japan, where she went through
junior high school at the Tokyo
American School at Meguro.
Lowry later returned to the
United States to attend high
school at Curtis High School on
Staten Island. In 1952, Lois
entered Packer Collegiate
Institute in Brooklyn Heights,
New York, where she finished
high school. Lowry then entered
Brown University in 1954. After
two years of school Lowry
married.
Lowry in 1954 while attending
Brown University
As her children became older,
Lowry found time to complete
her degree in English literature
from the University of Southern
Maine. It was during this
coursework that she was
introduced to photography,
which became a life-long
passion as well as a profession.
Her specialty was child
photography, but she also took
pictures to accompany the
articles she submitted as a
freelance journalist.
Lowry in her days as a photographer
It was while working on a
freelance journalism piece for
Redbook magazine that Lowry got
her first book opportunity, when
the article she wrote caught the
attention of an editor at Houghton
Mifflin publishing. The story Lowry
had written for the magazine was
meant for adults but was written
through the eyes of a child. The
editor at Houghton Mifflin
recognized an upcoming talent
and suggested that Lowry write a
children's book. She agreed and
wrote A Summer to Die which was
published in 1977.
The cover of Lowry’s first book
Today, Lois Lowry remains
active by not only
continuing to write and
speaking at appearances,
but also enjoying time at
her homes in Massachusetts
and Maine. Lois takes
pleasure in reading,
knitting, gardening, and
entertaining her four
grandchildren.
“The man that I named the Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history,
memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in
the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a
child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from
Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent,
wonderfully unsafe things.”
― Lois Lowry
“There is something about that moment, when literature becomes accessible,
and a door of the world opens. ”
― Lois Lowry
The Giver Trilogy
• 1993 The Giver, winner of the
1994 Newbery Medal
• 2000 Gathering Blue
• 2004 Messenger
The Anastasia Series
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1979 Anastasia Krupnik
1981 Anastasia Again!
1982 Anastasia at Your Service
1984 Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst
1985 Anastasia on Her Own
1986 Anastasia Has the Answers
1987 Anastasia's Chosen Career
1991 Anastasia at This Address
1995 Anastasia Absolutely
The Sam Series
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1988 All About Sam
1992 Attaboy Sam!
1996 See You Around, Sam!
1999 Zooman Sam.
The Tates Series
• 1983 The One Hundredth Thing About
Caroline
• 1985 Switcharound
• 1990 Your Move, J.P.!
The Gooney Bird Series
• 2002 Gooney Bird Greene-winner of
Rhode Island Children's Book Award
• 2006 Gooney Bird and the Room
Mother
• 2007 Gooney the Fabulous
• 2009 Gooney Bird Is So Absurd
Autobiographical
• 1998 Looking Back
Others
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1977 A Summer to Die
1978 Here in Kennebunkport
1978 Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye
1980 Autumn Street
1983 Taking Care of Terrific
1984 Us and Uncle Fraud
1987 Rabble Starkey
1989 Number the Stars, winner of the
1990 Newbery Medal
1997 Stay! Keeper's Story
2003 Silent Boy
2006 Gossamer
2008 The Willoughbys
2009 Crow Call
2010 The Birthday Ball
• Lois Lowry’s personal website and blog
www.loislowry.com
• Wikipedia article on Lois Lowry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Lowry
• Lois Lowry’s Scholastic page
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/lois-lowry