Lois Lowry's first book, A Summer to Die, was published in 1977. Since then, she has written over twenty novels for young adults and has won numerous awards, including two prestigious Newbery awards, one for Number the Stars and the other for The Giver. Lowry doesn't rely on awards to determine her success as a writer but, rather, on how well she communicates with her readers about individuality, life, and relationships. Her books portray sensitive, intelligent, witty protagonists who are faced with challenges and choices in life. She writes about topics that range from the humorous escapades of Anastasia Krupnik to Jonas' serious realization in The Giver that he has been living his life like a robot.
Lowry was born on March 20, 1937, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Robert E. Hammersberg, a United States Army dentist, and Katherine Landis Hammersberg. Because her father was a career army officer, Lowry often moved during her childhood. From Hawaii, her family relocated to New York, and during World War II, she, her mother, and her older sister, Helen, lived with her mother's family in Pennsylvania while her father was stationed overseas. During this time in Pennsylvania, Lowry's grandfather showered her with attention and affection, but her step-grandmother merely tolerated her. Because Lowry was a shy, introverted child, she sought companionship and entertainment in the wonderful worlds that existed within the books she found in her grandfather's library. After the war, Lowry and her family joined her father in Tokyo, Japan, where they lived for two years in an Americanized community.
