The Giver is a 1993 American young adult dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry, set in a society which at first appears to be utopian but is revealed to be dystopian as the story progresses. In the novel, the society has taken away pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan that has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives. In an effort to preserve order, the society also lacks any color, climate, terrain, and a true sense of equality. The protagonist of the story, a 12-year-old boy named Jonas, is selected to inherit the position of Receiver of Memory, the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness. Jonas struggles with concepts of the new emotions and things introduced to him, and whether they are inherently good, evil, or in between, and whether it is possible to have one without the other.
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.
Messenger is a 2004 young adult dystopian novel by American author Lois Lowry, as is the third installment of The Giver Quartet, which began with the 1993 Newbery Medal-winning novel The Giver. The story takes place about eight years after the events of The Giver, and six years after the events of Gathering Blue, the preceding novel in the series. Characters from both of the previous books reappear in Messenger and give the novels a stronger continuity.
David Levithan is an American young adult fiction author and editor. He has written numerous works featuring strong male gay characters, most notably Boy Meets Boy and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List. Six of Levithan's books have won or been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, making him the most celebrated author in the category.
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 on Her Own (1985) 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.
Autumn Street is a 1980 novel by two-time Newbery Award-winning author Lois Lowry.
Maureen Johnson is an American author of young adult fiction. Her published novels include series leading titles such as 13 Little Blue Envelopes, The Name of the Star, Truly Devious, and Suite Scarlett. Among Johnson's works are collaborative efforts such as Let It Snow, a holiday romance novel of interwoven stories co-written with John Green and Lauren Myracle, and a series of novellas found in New York Times bestselling anthologies The Bane Chronicles, Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, and Ghosts of the Shadow Market.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a young-adult science fiction novel written by British-American author Patrick Ness. It was published by Walker Books on 5 May 2008. It is the first book in the Chaos Walking series, followed by The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men. The story follows Todd Hewitt, a 12-year-old boy who runs away from Prentisstown, a town where everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts, after learning of a secret about its past.
Kathleen Elizabeth McDonnell is a Canadian author. She has been writing plays, fiction and non-fiction for both adults and young audiences since the late 1970s, and has also been a freelance broadcaster for CBC Radio.
Stranger with My Face is a young adult horror novel by Lois Duncan, first published in 1981. The novel is about Laurie Stratton, who is seen by others in places she knows she could not be. She discovers that she has an identical sister named Lia who has been visiting her town using astral projection, which involves sending her soul outside her body. Laurie learns astral projection and uses it to look for her sister. During this time, Lia's spirit takes control of Laurie's body. The story describes Laurie's struggle to take back control of her body. The novel explores themes of appearance versus true self and the idea of a double, someone similar but not quite the same as someone else. Duncan got the idea for the book after hearing about the concept of astral projection, which she thought would make a great plot for a novel. In 2011, the novel was updated with text to modernize the content.
Son is a 2012 young adult dystopian novel by American author Lois Lowry. The fourth and final book in The Giver Quartet, the story takes place during and after the first book in the series, The Giver. The story follows Claire, the birth mother of Gabriel, who was marked for "release" in The Giver before being taken out of the community by Jonas. Claire, obsessed with finding her son, embarks on a journey out of the community in an attempt to follow and find him. The novel explores themes of love, obligation, sacrifice, and loss. Son received mostly positive reviews from critics.
