Looking Back: A Book of Memories

by Lois Lowry

Overview

(star) "A compelling and inspirational portrait of the author emerges from these vivid snapshots of life's joyful, sad and surprising moments."—Publishers Weekly, starred review   In this moving autobiography, Lois Lowry explores her rich history through personal photographs, memories, and recollections of childhood friends. Lowry’s writing often transports readers into other worlds. Now, we have the opportunity to travel into the real world that is her life.    This edition features a refreshed design, an introduction by bestselling author Alice Hoffman, and material from Lois from the past twenty years, including the making of The Giver movie.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544932487
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	475,056
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	900L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Lois Lowry is the author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the New York Times bestselling Giver Quartet and popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader’s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This unusual book contains photographs from Lowry's past and her reflections on them. In the introduction, she suggests that the book will answer readers who ask, "How do you get ideas?" Toward that end, every section begins with a quotation from one of Lowry's books that relates in some way to the subject of the photo. Think of yourself sitting down with Lowry and looking through her albums while she stops and points at pictures of herself as a child and a teenager, photos of her parents and siblings and, then, more recent pictures of her children and grandchildren. Each picture evokes a memory that is a paragraph to a couple of pages long. Readers who remember the deftly portrayed family relationships in Lowry's novels will be fascinated by pictures of Lowry, her older sister, and her younger brother, as well as the often amusing tales of their youth. The mood is not always light, though, and few will be unmoved by Lowry's reflections on her son Grey's death in 1995....Only a writer with Lowry's blend of humor, detachment, and storytelling ability could make the form work.
Booklist, ALA

"Imagine sitting on a sofa with a friend listening with fascination while she tells you about the pictures in her photo album. That is the feeling once has when browsing through this book of Lowry's family snapshots and reading her lively commentary on them. . . . The author's voice comes through strongly as she shares both her happiest and saddest times. . . . Much more intimate and personal than many traditional memories, this work makes readers feel that Lowry is an old friend." School Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

* "Though more is not always better, it is here, making this volume even better than the original—fuller and wiser in its Giver-like understanding of the role of memory and of literature in our lives... Timeless and wise." —Kirkus, STARRED review "Throughout, Lowry’s winning combination of personal anecdotes—from laugh-out-loud incidents to family tragedies—with beautifully selected photographs and apt quotes from the author’s body of work makes this one to be remembered." —Horn Book Magazine —

From the Publisher

★ 2016-06-22
In an updated edition of her photographic memoir originally published in 1998, Lowry offers reflections on life, work, and literature."Why do you and I have to hold these memories?" Jonas asks in The Giver (1993). "It gives us wisdom," The Giver answers. As Alice Hoffman writes in a new introduction to this edition, "This charming volume," like The Giver, "is also about memory." Like the original, this engaging and accessible collection of memories is a scrapbook of family photographs, the prose serving as captions—short and long—to fill in the stories behind the pictures. "More!" Lowry's children and grandchildren would say when she finished a read-aloud book. "More!" she would say upon closing a favorite. And "More!" is a theme here, too, with new chapters about her children, grandchildren, losses, goodbyes, honors, and surprises. There's even a chapter on the making of the movie version of The Giver. Though more is not always better, it is here, making this volume even better than the original—fuller and wiser in its Giver-like understanding of the role of memory and of literature in our lives. A new cover photograph, smaller trim size, and sharper black-and-white photographs contribute to a handsome volume that ought to find a new generation of readers. Timeless and wise. (Memoir. 10 & up)

Kirkus Reviews