Attaboy, Sam!

Last updated
Attaboy, Sam!
AttaboySam.jpg
First edition
Author Lois Lowry
Audio read byBryan Kennedy
IllustratorDiane de Groat
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesSam Krupnik
Release number
2
Genre Children's
Publisher Houghton Mifflin
Publication date
April 1, 1992 (1992-04-01)
Media typePrint
Pages116
AwardsIowa Children's Choice Award
ISBN 978-0-395-61588-1
OCLC 779274949
LC Class PZ7.L9673
Preceded by All About Sam  
Followed by See You Around, Sam!  
Website http://loislowry.com/books-sam-krupnik-series/

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.

Contents

Plot summary

When Mrs. Krupnik announces that she only wants homemade gifts for her birthday, Sam's older sister Anastasia decides to write their mother a poem, while Sam opts to make a perfume. He begins collecting various things that his mother says she likes the smell of, storing them in a grape juice bottle. However, as Sam collects more and more ingredients for the perfume—such as his father's pipe, chicken soup, locks of freshly-washed hair, yeast, and baby wipes—he realizes that the "perfume" is smelling worse and worse. Despite this, Sam continues making the perfume, hoping it will start smelling better.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews praised the book, describing it as "warm, lively, true to children's real inner lives, and laugh-aloud funny all the way." [1] While a review in Publishers Weekly found the book generally enjoyable (in particular, praising the relationship between Sam and Anastasia), it wrote that the book's target age range was unclear, with Anastasia's subplot more fitting for older readers. [2]

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References

  1. "Attaboy, Sam!". Kirkus Reviews. 1992-03-01. Archived from the original on 2022-04-22. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
  2. "Children's Book Review: Attaboy, Sam! by Lois Lowry". Publishers Weekly. 1992-04-27. Archived from the original on 2022-04-22. Retrieved 2022-04-22.