Customer Reviews

Anastasia Krupnik (Summer Promo 1998 Edition)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read "Anastasia Krupnik: Being ten is no laughing matter," by Lois Lowry, to assist my daughter with her 7th grade language arts assignment. The book was very well written and enjoyable to read.

The story is set in Boston, Massachusetts, where ten-year-old Anastasia is struggling with an identity crisis, eccentric parents, and the pain of growing up an only child in a secular household. Her father is an English professor who writes poetry and her mother is an artist who forgets to do the laundry, which is why they both wear socks that don't match. Anastasia writes a poem without rhyme or meter and reads it to her class, but her teacher doesn't appreciate modern poetry; she gives her an "F" and tells her to follow the rules when writing poems. She has an on-again, off-again crush on a boy who doesn't like her, a grandmother who can't remember her name due to the onset of dementia, and a baby brother soon to be born: even her goldfish "blurps" at her from within the confines of its bowl.

At one point Anastasia decides to become Catholic, so she can change her name, but she soon changes her mind when she learns that stealing cupcakes from her friend is a sin and she will have to confess her sins to become a Catholic. Anastasia chronicles the significant events of her life in a green notebook, listing things she loves in one column and things she hates in another. Sometimes the things she hates become the things she loves and vice versa. By the end of the story, there remains only one item on the list of things she hates - liver - but the list of things she loves is long. The story is told with humorous effect, even though some of the things that happen are sad.

There are a few troublesome comments about her teacher's anatomy and conversations between Anastasia and her parents sometimes show a lack of discretion, but all things considered, it is the tender account of a prepubescent little girl with a prodigious intellect and an eagerness to learn and grow. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a coming-of-age story, but it will definitely hold your little girl's interest and in a subtle way, let her know that she is not alone in her quest to overcome life's many tribulations. It even has a happy ending to boot.

One of the major moments in my childhood came when I read that Myron Krupnik kept his poetry manuscripts in the crisper drawer of the fridge so they wouldn't burn in a fire. My father (also a poet, also an English professor) did the exact same thing. I vaguely remember jumping up and down on my bed and wanting to move to Boston.
Buy these for your child, even if you're not a poet. They're wonderful.

I first read this book at the age of eight, and over the years I collected each one as they came out. This was a series I read and reread. I am now saving these books for my daughter-who, by the way,I named Anastasia. Anastasia Krupnik is a wonderful character who will always warm my heart. Lois Lowry created a gem.

This is a great book for kids. I wouldn't say it's the best in the series, but it is really well-written. It ranks right up there with the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary and the Fudge books by Judy Blume. I had never heard of the Anastasia books until recently, when I bought a bunch of them at a used bookstore. I wish I had known about them when I was a child. I would have loved them. The Anastasia books are great to analyze for character development, which I like to do because I am also a writer. Even her parents are great characters! The only thing that bothers me about this book is the way it deals with another race. Honestly, it enforces a stereotype that makes blacks look really stupid. So, if you are African-American, it may irk you. Even though it is sort of a mild slur, it did bother me a little bit, even though I am not black. Overall, though, it was a good book, and it really makes you want to read more of them.

Coming from an intellectual, not quite mainstream family, the Anastasia books were some of the only books I read as a child in which I could identify with the protagonist's family. For that reason alone, I'd recommend these books to other children of intellectuals (both my parents are academics).

The books are also witty, intelligent, compassionate, and beautifully written--and the characters are incredibly well-crafted. Anastasia is, in her way, every bit as memorable as Beverly Cleary's Ramona. For that reason, I'd recommend these books to anyone.

I must have been about 10 or 11 when I discovered the Anastasia books, a series of rollicking good classics that I still look fondly upon even now at 18. In this first book, Anastasia is a 10-year-old with an unforgettable deadpan and a baby brother on the way; and in each successive addition, she continues to tackle typical and sometimes atypical woes of preteenhood: moving to the suburbs, getting a job, climbing the dreaded rope in gym class, her short-lived modeling career, and naturally the opposite sex. Her sense of sarcastic humor is tempered with very youthful idealism, and above all, she's a real character - no strings attached. If you're a kid or parent who seeks a nice change of pace from overhyped soap-opera stuff like The Babysitters' Club or Sweet Valley Twins (are those guys still around at all?), does Lois Lowry ever have the answer for you! Along with this particular book, I extend the same recommendation to the others in the series - Anastasia Again!, Anastasia At Your Service, etc. And if you can't get enough of her baby brother Sam, check out All About Sam and Attaboy, Sam!

In my opinion the 'Anastasia' series should be a treasured possesion in any book collection. I read 'Anastasia Krupnik' and 'Anastasia Again!' for the first time when I was 9, and have re-read them again and again. I liked them so much that I purchased copies for my own collection. Since then I have read as many Lois Lowry books as I could get my hands on, including the rest of the 'Anastasia' series. Anastasia Krupnik is a ten-year old girl with a lot on her plate, like falling in love, moving out on her own, converting religions and getting an unnecessary baby brother. It seems as though Frank, her goldfish, and her secret notebook (in which Anastasia stores her most private thoughts) are her only friends, what can Anastasia do! This book, although a little different, is a wonderful story for kids around the world.

I laughed out loud through most of this novel. If you're in the mood for a light, easy read, this book is perfect. Anastasia gets into all sorts of silly adventures, and you'll be able to relate to her no matter how old you are. I LOVED this book!

Anastasia Krupnik has a poem writer dad, a painter mom, a 90 year old grandmother, and A BABY coming. Her older parents have told Anastasia that she has a healthy baby brother on her way and she gets to pick the name. This book was great for me and probaly good for your picky reader, too. This mini series is a realistic fiction miracle. It's like it fell out of the sky to purposely come into my hands to entertain all preteen girls.

Would you like to know what a avarage 10- year-old girls life is like? In Anastasia Krupnik a ten year old girl named Anastasia Krupnik deals with a hard life. She has a green notebook that she has a page that has a Things I Hate list and a Things I Love list. At first her Things I Hate list was longer than her things I love list. In the middle of the book she found out that her mom was pregnant. Near the end of the book she starts to try stuff on her Things I Hate list and moved it to her Things I Love list. At the end of the book she finfds out that her grandmother died and the only thing only thing on her Things I Hate list is liver because she tried new things. If you like reading searies about a normal girls life then I would recommend this book and the whole series. You do not have to read the books in order.