Looking Back: A Book of Memories

Newbery Award winning author Lois Lowry offers her fans a creative look into her life. Using photographs, Lowry spins vignettes of memories triggered by each photo. Each chapter opens with a quotation from one of Lowry's books. From the vignettes, we learn how her life has influenced her writing. This autobiography is a very personal and intimate conversation between friends. It will appeal to both adults and children.

A friend at work lent me this book when she found out that Anastasia Krupnik was a favorite when I was growing up. I absolutely loved it! The pictures are beautiful - some sad, some funny, and some joyous. She uses the pictures of both her childhood and her children to tell the story of how she became a writer and where she found some of the ideas for her books. She also uses quotes from her books to tell her own life story. Lowry's sense of humor and style of writing make it seem like you are looking through a photo album of a close friend. It's a fascinating story about one of my favorite authors, and I will definitely buy a copy so I can read it again in the future.

This book deserves an award! It is one of the best books I've ever read. It is basically a book about Lois Lowery's life. It has snapshots and even a passport. She talks all about her life in this book. It is written in first person, which has a way of making you feel like you're her best friend, or mother, or sister, or brother. Some parts are funny, some parts are sad. And some parts are just true, and they happen all the time in everyone's life. I read this book cover to cover in less than a day, and I'll bet a bunch of other people did too! Get this book today!

If you are a child, parent, teacher, librarian, or just plain human - you will love this book. Especially if you have enjoyed the books of Lois Lowry, you will appreciate seeing how her own life experiences have shaped her later fiction. Not really an autobiography, not really a memoir, "Looking Back" is more a visit with a friend who tells wonderful stories and makes you feel very much at home. And the photographs are incredible. A great gift!

Lois Lowry ties quotes (some of them memorable) from her various novels for children (including Newbery Medalists Number the Stars and The Giver, as well as her popular Anastasia Krupnik series) to memories from her life. The words create masterful links between fiction and fact. The bonus - the photos. Each vignette is paired with a photo, entirely appropriate because of Lowry's skill as a photographer (and, from the looks of it, an inherited skill it is). The effect is absolutely affecting. This is a book for children AND adults.