Tree. Table. Book.
novel · First published 2024
Author guide
Lois Lowry Books in Order
Lois Lowry is an American author whose books for children and young adults explore family, identity, grief, war, moral responsibility, human connection, and the consequences of social control. Her best-known works include Number the Stars, The Giver, the Anastasia Krupnik books, and the Giver Quartet. She has also written realistic novels, historical fiction, memoir, poetry, and picture books. She received Newbery Medals for Number the Stars and The Giver.
children's literatureyoung adult fictionmiddle-grade fictionhistorical fictionrealistic fictiondystopian fictionmemoirpoetrypicture books
Catalog record updated .
Lois Lowry's Newest Book
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
The Giver
A defining work and the first novel in the completed Giver Quartet.
Anastasia Krupnik
The first and representative entry in the Anastasia Krupnik series.
Number the Stars
A celebrated standalone historical novel and Newbery Medal winner.
A Summer to Die
Lowry's first published novel and an accessible introduction to her recurring themes of family and loss.
Read in order
Books by series
novel series · complete
Anastasia Krupnik
The comic coming-of-age series following Anastasia Krupnik and her family.
- 1 Anastasia Krupnik
Book 1 · novel · 1979
- 2 Anastasia Again!
Book 2 · novel · 1981
Twelve-year-old Anastasia is horrified at her family's decision to move from their city apartment to a house in the suburbs.
- 3 Anastasia at Your Service
Book 3 · novel · 1982
Twelve-year-old Anastasia has a series of disastrous experiences when, expecting to get a job as a lady's companion, she is hired instead to be a maid.
- 4 Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst
Book 4 · novel · 1984
Anastasia's seventh-grade science project becomes almost more than she can handle, but her brother Sam, age three, and a bust of Freud, aid her nobly.
- 5 Anastasia on Her Own
Book 5 · novel · 1985
Her family's new organized schedule for easy housekeeping makes thirteen-year-old Anastasia confident that she can run the household while her mother is out of town, until she hits unexpected complications.
- 6 Anastasia Has the Answers
Book 6 · novel · 1986
Anastasia continues the perilous process of growing up as her thirteenth year involves her in conquering the art of rope climbing, playing Cupid for a recently widowered uncle, and surviving a crush on her gym teacher.
- 7 Anastasia's Chosen Career
Book 7 · novel · 1987
Thirteen-year-old Anastasia acquires poise and self-confidence, a new friend, and advice on becoming a bookstore owner when she commutes to Boston to take a modeling course.
- 8 Anastasia at This Address
Book 8 · novel · 1991
Ready for romance, thirteen-year-old Anastasia answers an ad in the personals with an exaggerated description of herself but soon runs into trouble when the unknown man turns up at a friend's wedding.
- 9 Anastasia, Absolutely
Book 9 · novel · 1995
More adventures of thirteen-year-old Anastasia Krupnik as she tries to deal with a new dog, her school values class, and a personal moral dilemma.
- 1 All About Sam
Book 1 · novel · 1988
The adventures of Sam, Anastasia Krupnik's younger brother, from his first day as a newborn through his mischievous times as a toddler.
- 2 Attaboy, Sam!
Book 2 · novel · 1992
Sam is able to help his sister Anastasia with the poem she is writing for their mother's birthday, but his own efforts to create a special perfume are disastrous.
- 3 See You Around, Sam!
Book 3 · novel · 1996
Sam Krupnik, mad at his mother because she won't let him wear his new plastic fangs in the house, decides to run away to Alaska.
- 4 Zooman Sam
Book 4 · novel · 1999
Four-year-old Sam's appearance as a zookeeper at his nursery school's Future Job Day leads him to a number of exciting activities and discoveries, including reading.
novel series · complete
Caroline Tate
The comic Tate family novels about Caroline, her brother J.P., and their family.
- 1 The One Hundredth Thing About Caroline
Book 1 · novel · 1983
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…
- 2 Switcharound
Book 2 · novel · 1985
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.
- 3 Your Move, J.P.!
Book 3 · novel · 1990
Lovestruck J.P. finds himself doing all sorts of weird things to impress his new interest but his life becomes very complicated when a simple lie gets out of control.
novel series · complete
The Giver Quartet
Four linked novels set in distinct but connected societies and worlds.
- 1 The Giver
Book 1 · novel · 1993
In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the…
- 2 Gathering Blue
Book 2 · novel · 2000
In her strongest work to date, Lois Lowry once again creates a mysterious but plausible future world. It is a society ruled by savagery and deceit that shuns and discards the weak. Left orphaned and physically flawed, young Kira faces a…
- 3 Messenger
Book 3 · novel · 2004
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.
- 4 Son
Book 4 · novel · 2012
Unlike the other Birthmothers in her utopian community, teenaged Claire forms an attachment to her baby and sets out to find him when he is removed from the community.
children's novel series · complete
Gooney Bird
The series about the imaginative and unconventional second-grader Gooney Bird Greene.
- 1 Gooney Bird Greene
Book 1 · novel · 2002
A most unusual new student who loves to be the center of attention entertains her teacher and fellow second graders by telling absolutely true stories about herself, including how she got her name.
- 2 Gooney Bird and the Room Mother
Book 2 · novel · 2005
Gooney Bird Greene, an entertaining second grader who introduces challenging vocabulary words and tells "absolutely true" stories, finds a surprise room mother to bring cupcakes for the Thanksgiving pageant.
- 3 Gooney the Fabulous
Book 3 · novel · 2007
This is the continuation of the fantastically, absolutely true stories of the interesting and mysterious Gooney Bird Green. Gooney is a second grade student who inspires her teacher and class and is a fantastic role model for all when it…
- 4 Gooney Bird Is So Absurd
Book 4 · novel · 2009
Mrs. Pidgeon's second grade class studies poetry and her students write haiku, couplets, free verse, and finally, a tribute to Mrs. Pidgeon's mother organized by the irrepressible Gooney Bird Greene.
- 5 Gooney Bird on the Map
Book 5 · novel · 2011
When her second-grade classmates are envious of the three students who are going away on winter vacation, the creative and ingenious Gooney Bird Greene thinks of a geography activity to cheer them all up.
- 6 Gooney Bird and All Her Charms
Book 6 · novel · 2014
novel series · complete
The Willoughbys
A comic series about the Willoughby children and their unusual families.
- 1 The Willoughbys
Book 1 · novel · 2008
From the Newbery Medal-winning author of The Giver and Number the Stars, comes a "hilarious" (Booklist, starred review) and wonderfully old-fashioned story about a mother and father who are all too eager to be rid of their four children .…
- 2 The Willoughbys Return
Book 2 · novel · 2020
multi-author historical diary series · ongoing
Dear America
A multi-author historical diary series; Lowry contributed Like the Willow Tree.
- 1 Like the Willow Tree: The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce, Portland, Maine, 1918
Book 1 · novel · 2011
After being orphaned during the influenza epidemic of 1918, eleven-year-old Lydia Pierce and her fourteen-year-old brother are taken by their grieving uncle to be raised in the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake. Includes author's note…
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (14)
- A Summer to Die
novel · 1977
Thirteen-year-old Meg envys her sister's beauty and popularity. Her feelings don't make it any easier for her to cope with Molly's strange illness and eventual death.
- Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye
novel · 1978
Seemingly a girl who has everything, Natalie, at seventeen, goes in pursuit of her real mother.
- Autumn Street
novel · 1980
- Taking Care of Terrific
novel · 1983
Taking her overprotected young charge to the public park to broaden his horizons, fourteen-year-old baby sitter Enid enjoys unexpected friendships with a black saxophonist and a bag lady until she is charged with kidnapping.
- Us and Uncle Fraud
novel · 1984
Mysterious things begin to happen after Uncle Claude comes to stay with his sister's family. Is Uncle Claude a thief, an imposter, or just a dream weaver?
- Rabble Starkey
novel · 1987
- Number the Stars
novel · 1989
In 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how to be brave and courageous when she helps shelter her Jewish friend from the Nazis.
- Stay! Keeper's Story
novel · 1997
Separated early in life from his mother and siblings, Keeper tells of his adventures with various human masters and his continual search for his little sister.
- The Silent Boy
novel · 2003
Katy, the precocious ten-year-old daughter of the town doctor, befriends a retarded boy.
- Gossamer
novel · 2006
While learning to bestow dreams, a young dream giver tries to save an eight-year-old boy from the effects of both his abusive past and the nightmares inflicted on him by the frightening Sinisteeds.
- The Birthday Ball
novel · 2010
Princess Patricia Priscilla is bored with her royal life and the excitement surrounding her sixteenth birthday ball. Doomed to endure courtship by three grotesquely unappealing noblemen, she escapes her fate—for a week. Disguised as a…
- Bless This Mouse
novel · 2011
A hilarious and timeless tale about a village of church mice that fear another Great X and must fight under their valiant leader, Mouse Mistress Hildegarde, to save themselves!
- The Windeby Puzzle
novel · 2023
- Tree. Table. Book.
novel · 2024
Nonfiction (1)
- Looking Back: A Book of Memories
memoir · 1998
Using family photographs and quotes from her books, the author provides glimpses into her life.
Children's books (1)
- Crow Call
picture-book · 2009
Nine-year-old Liz accompanies the stranger who is her father, just returned from the war, when he goes hunting for crows in Pennsylvania farmland.
Poetry (1)
- On the Horizon
poetry · 2020
From two-time Newbery medalist and living legend Lois Lowry comes a moving account of the lives lost in two of WWII's most infamous events: Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. With evocative black-and-white illustrations by SCBWI Golden Kite…
Frequently asked questions about Lois Lowry
Where was Lois Lowry born, and what was her background?
Lois Lowry was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up in a frequently traveling military family because her father was a U.S. Army dentist. She also attended junior high school in Tokyo, Japan.
How did Lois Lowry become a professional writer?
She attended Brown University at 17, left college at 19, and later returned to school, earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine. She began writing professionally in her mid-thirties.
Sources: penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)loislowry.com (opens in a new tab)
What influenced Lois Lowry’s writing?
Personal experiences strongly influenced her work: she described her first book as a fictionalized retelling of her sister’s early death. Across her writing, she has emphasized human connection, interdependence, and the effects people have on one another.
What awards has Lois Lowry won?
Lowry won two John Newbery Medals: in 1990 for Number the Stars and in 1994 for The Giver. The awards recognize distinguished contributions to American children’s literature.
Sources: ala.org (opens in a new tab)ala.org (opens in a new tab)loislowry.com (opens in a new tab)
What is Lois Lowry’s legacy in children’s literature?
Lowry’s legacy includes bringing complex subjects and moral questions to readers from preschool through young adulthood. Her varied work repeatedly explores human connection, responsibility, and the consequences of social choices.
Sources: ala.org (opens in a new tab)loislowry.com (opens in a new tab)