Kira lives in a harshly primitive society, rigidly bound by tradition and rules. Separated from others because of her skill at embroidery, she is given the task of restoring a sacred garment that is key to preserving her culture's history. As Kira learns more about those who run her world she begins to question what she has been told, and after learning some ugly truths must choose whether to run away or stay and try to change things for the better.

Struggling with what to wear for 'Future Career Day' at his preschool, Sam decides to go as a zookeeper. His teacher allows Sam to take several days to tell his classmates about all the animals at the zoo, which is exciting at first but overwhelming after a few days. Sam is as likable as ever but the plot of this book is a little slimmer than usual.

Inspired in part by her son's tragic death, Lowry has put together a memoir of sorts. Not an autobiography in the usual sense, this book is a collection of photographs with related memories and stories, each section introduced by a quotation from one of Lowry's books. Frequently humorous and occasionally heart breaking, Lowry offers the reader insight into her life and how she has drawn much of her work directly from her life experiences.

Written in first-person narrative, this book recounts the life story of a stray dog named Keeper. We learn of his birth and separation from his mother, his rise to fame as an actor and his constant search for his little sister, Wispy. Keeper's narrative is charming and surprisingly insightful.

Mad at his mother for not letting him wear plastic fangs in the house, five-year-old Sam decides to run away to Alaska. As he visits each of his neighbors to say goodbye, Sam begins to have second thoughts about leaving home. Once again, Lowry demonstrates her remarkable ability to write about this young character with humor and affection.

Anastasia, now 13, struggles with questions of moral values, both for a school assignment and in her everyday life. After accidentally dropping a bag of dog poop in a mailbox, she agonizes over whether or not to confess to her crime.When she finally goes to the police, instead of being convicted of a federal offense (as she feared), Anastasia ends up helping the police catch a mailbox bomber.

The Giver is the story of Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy living in a society where life is strictly controlled, each person is assigned to their life path, and everyone is happy. When Jonas is chosen to be the next Receiver of Memories he learns the price that must be paid for this Utopian society. Unwilling to participate any longer, he abandons all he knows to search for a truer life. Very different from any of Lowry's previous work, The Giver has stirred up controversy over Lowry's depiction of euthanasia and sexual awakening. Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal.

Sam, now in preschool, decides to make perfume for Mrs. Krupnik's birthday. He puts samples of all her favorite smells - Mr. Krupnik's pipe, sea water, baby wipes and yeast among others into an empty grape juice jug. Sam's hope that this noxious concoction will somehow turn out okay is not met with success, but together with his father and sister they manage to think up a nice present for Mrs. Krupnik in the end.

Anastasia's interest in the opposite sex is gearing up as she reaches her teenage years. Deciding that she is interested in men instead of boys, Anastasia answers a personal ad from the newspaper. The creative deception she uses to avoid revealing her true age lands her in a tricky spot when her prospective date shows up at a friend's wedding.

In this third novel about J.P. and Caroline Tate J.P. has fallen in love - and it is making him weirder than ever. As he tells ever more creative lies in an attempt to impress his dream girl, J.P. must figure out how to get out of the hole he has dug himself into.

This book tells the story of a ten-year-old Danish girl whose family helps to smuggle her Jewish friend and her family safely out of the country before the Nazis could arrest them. Grounded in fact and based in part on the life of an old friend, Lowry writes a beautiful, compelling story about an ugly time in world history. Winner of the 1990 Newbery Medal.

Anastasia Krupnik's little brother Sam is the subject and narrator of this book. Starting with his birth and progressing through to nursery school we are given Sam's life story from his point of view, including some events that readers will recognize from previous Anastasia books.

Anastasia, now thirteen, takes a modeling course to learn poise and self-confidence during the same week she interviews a bookstore owner for a school project on careers. Lighter in tone than others in the series, Anastasia gains some independence and makes a new friend.

Twelve-year-old Rabble and her mother move into the Bigelow's house to help run the household when Mrs. Bigelow is hospitalized for emotional troubles. Though their life with the Bigelows is comfortable, Rabble and her mother must decide what is best for their future.

Anastasia continues to face the trials of adolescence. In this book she learns to climb the rope in gym class, attempts to play Cupid for her recently widowed uncle, and copes with her crush on her female gym teacher.

Caroline and her brother J.P., now eleven and thirteen, are forced to spend the summer with their father and his new family. Assigned jobs that neither one of them wants, they figure out a way to have fun and help their father out of a jam.

Anastasia, now thirteen, offers to run the house while her mother is away for a week. Things get a little bit out of hand when she tries to throw a dinner part for her father's old girlfriend and the boy she has a crush on. Anastasia's evolving maturity is put to the test in these hilariously trying circumstances.

When her eccentric Uncle Claude comes to visit eleven-year-old Louise is fascinated by his stories of adventure. Later, when he leaves town suddenly under suspicious circumstances, Louise wonders if any of what she thinks she knows about Claude is true.

Like any normal teenager, Anastasia has decided that there must be something wrong with her, but her family won't send her to an analyst. Ever resourceful, she decides to analyze herself after reading a volume of Freud's work. Add to this a gerbil-breeding experiment gone astray and you have one of the funniest of the Anastasia series.

Fourteen-year-old Caroline finds a letter in the trash of the man her mother is dating that leads her to believe that he is plotting to kill her and her older brother. While this proves not to be the case, it requires significant antics on their part to uncover the truth.

When Enid agrees to baby-sit Joshua for the summer, the fourteen-year-old has no idea what is in store - friendship with a street musician and a homeless lady, hijacking the famous swan boats at the Boston Public Garden, and finally being charged with kidnapping. Both Joshua and Enid grow in unexpected ways in this humorous and insightful story.

Desperate to earn money and have something to do for the summer, twelve-year-old Anastasia advertises her services as a Lady's Companion but finds herself hired as a maid instead. Determined to hate her job, Anastasia instead finds herself having a good time and making new friends.

Anastasia has always lived in the city and does not want to move to the suburbs. Unfortunately her parents have decided that their newly expanded family (baby Sam was born at the end of Anastasia Krupnik) needs more room. Once there, however, Anastasia makes some new friends (including the witch who lives next door) and decides she might like it after all.

When her dad goes off to fight in WWII, six-year-old Liz goes with her mother and sister to live with her grandparents. There she makes new friends and confronts some painful truths about the world. Told in the voice of an adult remembering her childhood, this story is filled with insight that foreshadows the tragic ending.

This first book of the very popular series introduces ten-year-old Anastasia, who is not at all happy that her parents are having a baby. The Krupniks are a delightful family - warm and funny, they have their foibles but always manage to work things out.

Seventeen-year-old Natalie seems to have it all - a loving family, a great boyfriend - but she doesn't know who her biological parents are. She decides to track them down, and in the process learns what family really means.

Thirteen-year-old Meg has always been the smart one, and her older sister Molly has always been the pretty one. When Molly becomes seriously ill, Meg must overcome her feelings of guilt and learn to be comfortable with who she is.