Plot summary
Anastasia's mother, who is a children's book illustrator, finds out that she is being flown to California to act as a consultant for a film being made from a book that she illustrated. At first, Anastasia thinks that being in charge of the house in her mother's absence will be a snap, particularly when she and her father make up an easy to follow, super-organized housekeeping list. Unexpected events, however, keep shaking up Anastasia's domestic bliss. First, her younger brother Sam gets the chicken pox, and Anastasia has to stay home from school to take care of him. Then her boyfriend, Steve, asks her out on their first real date—but she finds out she can't go out with him because she has to stay home to chaperone a meeting between her father and Annie, one of his ex-girlfriends. Anastasia wants to plan a romantic dinner for herself and Steve, but worries that the romantic setting will affect her father and Annie. Numerous disasters—small and large—strike, but luckily Anastasia won't be on her own for long, as her mother is able to come home early and straighten things out again. Her mother's arrival brought her peace and happiness.
Lois Ann Lowry is an American writer. She is the author of several books for children and young adults, including The Giver Quartet, Number the Stars, and Rabble Starkey. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for young audiences.
Annie on My Mind is a 1982 novel by Nancy Garden about the romantic relationship between two 17-year-old New York City girls, Annie and Liza.
Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger, and Christopher's Diary: Secret Brother. The novel is written in the first person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger. It was twice adapted into films in 1987 and 2014. The book was extremely popular, selling over 40 million copies world wide.
Annie John, a novel written by Jamaica Kincaid in 1985, details the growth of a girl in Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. It covers issues as diverse as mother-daughter relationships, same-sex attraction, racism, clinical depression, poverty, education, and the struggle between medicine based on "scientific fact" and that based on "native superstitious know-how".
Anastasia Krupnik (1979) is the first book of a popular series of middle-grade novels by Lois Lowry, depicting the title character's life as a girl "just trying to grow up." Anastasia deals with everyday problems such as popularity, the wart on her thumb or the new arrival of her little brother, Sam. The book is written in episodic fashion, each chapter self-contained with minimal narrative link to the others. At the end of each chapter is a list written by Anastasia, listing her likes and dislikes, showing the character's growth and development through the story.
Anastasia Again! (1981) is a young-adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is part of her Anastasia and Sam series and the sequel to Anastasia Krupnik.
Anastasia At Your Service (1982) is a young-adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is the third part of a series of books Lois Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam. The first edition was illustrated by Diane De Groat.
Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst (1984) is a young-adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is part of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
Anastasia Has the Answers (1986) is a young adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is the sixth of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
Anastasia's Chosen Career (1987) is a young-adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is the seventh part of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
Anastasia at This Address (1991) is a young-adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is part of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
Anastasia Absolutely (1995) is a young-adult novel by Lois Lowry. It is part of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
All About Sam (1988) is a children's novel by Lois Lowry. It is the first in a series of four novels about the character Sam Krupnik; a character Lowry had developed earlier in her books on Sam's older sister, Anastasia Krupnik. The novel is known for its humor, and was included in the 2003 reference publication Something Funny Happened At the Library published by the American Library Association. A 1997 assessment of the novel by Joel Chaston stated that the work had wide appeal to young readers, and whereas the related Anastasia series books had appealed more to girls, the Sam Krupnik series expanded readership to audience of all genders.
Attaboy, Sam! (1992) is a children's novel by Lois Lowry. It is the second book in a series that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
See You Around, Sam (1996) is a children's novel written by Lois Lowry and illustrated by Diane de Groat. It is part of a series of books that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother, Sam.
Zooman Sam (1999) is a children's novel by Lois Lowry. It is part of a series that Lowry wrote about Anastasia and her younger brother Sam.
Time Travelers Quartet is a series of four young adult time-travel romance books by Caroline B. Cooney.
Don't Look Behind You is a 1989 young adult thriller novel by Lois Duncan. It won a number of regional awards and was adapted into a television film in 1999.
I Am Rembrandt's Daughter is a 2007, young adult historical fiction novel by Lynn Cullen about the famous artist Rembrandt van Rijn's daughter Cornelia van Rijn (1654-1684). In Cullen's version of the story, Cornelia finds that she is not Rembrandt's daughter, but rather that of Nicolaes Bruyningh, the subject of one of Rembrandt's paintings. The novel was selected by YALSA as one of the Best Books for Young Adults in 2008.
True Believer is a verse novel for young adults, written by Virginia Euwer Wolff and published by Atheneum Books in 2001. It has been published as an audiobook read by Heather Alicia Simms, and translated into Chinese, German, Italian, and Japanese. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature and was named a Michael L. Printz Honor book.
