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Read about my Newbery Awards

 

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Anastasia was born in 1979, at the age of ten. She's been around ever since, and she's only thirteen now. I never get tired of writing about her and her family. Katherine Krupnik, her mother, reminds me of myself.

ANASTASIA KRUPNIK   Anastasia's tenth year has some good things, like falling in love and really getting to know her grandmother, and some bad things, like finding out about an impending baby brother.

ANASTASIA AGAIN!   Twelve-year-old Anastasia is horrified at her family's decision to move from their city apartment to a house in the suburbs.

ANASTASIA AT YOUR SERVICE   Chronically short of cash, twelve-year-old Anastasia looks for a job and finds more than she bargained for.

ANASTASIA, ASK YOUR ANALYST  Anastasia's seventh-grade science project becomes almost more than she can handle, but brother Sam, age three, and a bust of Freud nobly aid her.

ANASTASIA ON HER OWN   When her mother is called out of town, Anastasia and her father set about to prove that running a house is actually easier than it seems.

ANASTASIA HAS THE ANSWERS  Anastasia continues the perilous process of growing up, as her thirteenth year involves conquering the art of rope climbing, playing Cupid for a recently widowed uncle, and surviving a crush on her gym teacher.

ANASTASIA'S CHOSEN CAREER   In her seventh adventure, the irrepressible Anastasia decides that charm school is the answer to her career dilemmas.

ANASTASIA AT THIS ADDRESS  Anastasia Krupnik answers a personal ad, and by stretching the truth, finds herself in quite a predicament when the special "he" wants to meet her.

ANASTASIA ABSOLUTELY   Anastasia finds herself in another embarrassing mess when she accidentally puts the bag of her dog's droppings instead of her mother's packages in the mailbox, and things get worse when the police investigate the mailbox.


Sam was born when Anastasia was ten, and for a long time he existed only in the books about her. But kids liked him. Maybe he reminded them of their own little brothers. So at the request of young readers, I gave Sam his own series.

ALL ABOUT SAM  Sam's adventures, some of which also occur in the books about Anastasia, are warm and life-affirming; they are related with humorous affection, without a trace of condescension.

ATTABOY, SAM!  In this second book about Anastasia Krupnik's younger brother, Sam concocts a perfume made of his mother's favorite smells to honor her request for only homemade gifts for her birthday.

SEE YOU AROUND, SAM!   Sam Krupnik decides to run away to Alaska when his mother won't let him wear his new plastic fangs in the house. Sam stops at neighbors' houses to say goodbye and is given so much gear and information, he wonders if he's made the right choice.

ZOOMAN SAM   It's Future Job Day at Sam's nursery school, and Sam, who has zookeeping aspirations, is thrilled when his teacher says he can tell the other children about a series of zoo animals: "For six weeks he could stand in front of the circle and feel that feeling of being the most interesting person in the room."


Caroline and J.P. Tate
are so much like real kids in real families: a bickering sister-and-brother pair, with a long-suffering single mom. They live in New York City, but in one book they spend a summer with their dad in Iowa. In truth, the Tates could exist anywhere.

THE ONE HUNDREDTH THING ABOUT CAROLINE   When their mother starts to date the mystery man on the fifth floor, who has been instructed by his agent to "eliminate the children" by the first of May, eleven-year-old Caroline and her older brother figure they're targeted to be the victims of a savage crime.

SWITCHAROUND   Forced to spend a summer with their father and his "new" family, Caroline, age eleven, and J.P., age thirteen, are given unpleasant responsibilities for which they are determined to get revenge.

YOUR MOVE, J.P.!  A sequel to "The One Hundredth Thing about Caroline" and "Switcharound", the book presents a good case for the danger of mixing lies and love and is just as lively and entertaining as the earlier two.

With the 2004 publication of MESSENGER, the trilogy that begins with THE GIVER is complete. Jonas and Kira are grown, and have met, at last. Of course every good book leaves one wondering, and the conclusion of the trilogy will, as well.

THE GIVER  At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life.

GATHERING BLUE   In this speculation on the nature of the future of human society, life in Kira's community is nasty, brutish, and, for the ill or disabled, short.

MESSENGER   In this novel that unites characters from "The Giver" and "Gathering Blue," Matty, a young member of a utopian community that values honesty, conceals an emerging healing power that he cannot explain or understand.

 

THE GOONEY BIRD BOOKS
Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade has one student who is, shall we say, somewhat unusual. New to the school in October, by Thanksgiving she has completely entranced the entire class. And there's a whole school year yet to come

GOONEY BIRD IS SO ABSURD   Gooney Bird Greene isnŐt a new student anymore, now that it is January. Her classmates are getting used to her. But on the day that she wears her special brain-warming hat to school---well, it is clear that she still has a few things to teach them!

GOONEY THE FABULOUS   It's December in Watertower Elementary School. The school dog is obligingly wearing fake antlers for the holiday celebration. Mrs. Pidgeon's classroom is studying fables and creating their own. Gooney Bird, of course, is making it fun!

GOONEY BIRD GREENE   When story time arrives, the choice is unanimous: they want to hear about Gooney Bird Greene. And that suits her just fine, because, as it turns out, Gooney Bird has quite a few interesting and absolutely true stories to tell.

GOONEY BIRD AND THE ROOM MOTHER  Everything is Mrs. Pigeon's second grade classroom is ready for the Thanksgiving pageant. Except that the costumes don't fit. And there's no Room Mother to make refreshments. And every child wants to be Squanto. And the newly-composed songs are...well, not that great. But suddenly...there is always a suddenly!...under Gooney Bird's able direction, things fall into place and a catastrophe turns into a triumph.


Each of these is an all-by-itself book, not part of a series. They take you from Denmark to West Virginia to Boston, - and many other places - and three of them come from my own life. (See if you can figure out which three!)

Crow Call   This is my first-ever picture book, a true story about a day I spent with my father after he returned from World War II. The illustrations were beautifully done by artist Bagram Ibatoulline.

THE WILLOUGHBYS   Tim, Jane, and the twins, Barnaby A and Barnaby B, are four rather ordinary children. They just happen to have extraordinarily horrible parents. And that requires some extraordinary scheming.

GOSSAMER   In a story that tiptoes between reality and imagination, two people—a lonely woman and an angry boy—discover what they can be to each other, renewed by strength that comes from a tiny, caring creature they will never see.

THE SILENT BOY   A sensitive and moving story of a wide-eyed young girl growing up at the beginning of the twentieth century and the influence of the farm community around her.

A SUMMER TO DIE   Thirteen-year-old Meg envies her sister Molly's beauty and popularity, and these feelings make it difficult for her to cope with Molly's illness and death.

FIND A STRANGER, SAY GOODBYE   Natalie Armstrong, an attractive, happy teenager about to enter college, sets out to discover the parents who gave her up at infancy.

AUTUMN STREET   When her father leaves to fight in World War II, Elizabeth goes with her mother and sister to her grandfather's house, where she learns to face up to the always puzzling and often cruel realities of the adult world.

TAKING CARE OF TERRIFIC   In Boston's famous Public Garden, fourteen-year-old Enid and her four-year-old pal, Tom Terrific, learn lots about life from new friendships with a bag lady and a saxophone player.

US AND UNCLE FRAUD  Eleven-year-old Louise Cunningham watches with wonder as a visit from her unusual uncle gives her ordinary small town a glow of something mysterious and magical.

RABBLE STARKEY   Twelve-year-old Rabble Starkey's mother is hired by Mrs. Bigelow to look after her children while she's in the hospital. Living in that huge house, Rabble feels she's finally found a home. But soon she and her mother must question what's really best for them.

STAY! KEEPER'S STORY   This is the story of a dog who tells his own tale. As a pup he is separated from his mother and siblings. Through it all, Keeper can't forget his long lost little sister. If only they could be together again, life would be perfect. But an old enemy is watching and waiting to make his move.

NUMBER THE STARS   Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching in their town.

LOOKING BACK   It is a rare album memoir for both children and adults; it's straightforward text is accompanied by beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking black-and-white photographs.

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Illustrations by Lois Lowry
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