Looking Back: A Book of Memories (Paperback)

by Lois Lowry (Author) "I know the date because it is written on the back of the photograph, which was taken, developed, and printed by my great-aunt Mary, who..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Anastasia Krupnik, Bobby Hobaugh (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Introducing each section of this memoir with an excerpt from one of her novels, the author "unfolds her history in a glorious arc, invisibly threading its parts into a unified whole. Her connection of the everyday details of her life to the larger scope of her work adds a new dimension to her novels," said PW in a boxed review. All ages. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up-Imagine sitting on a sofa with a friend and listening with fascination while she tells you about the pictures in her photo album. That is the feeling one has when browsing through this book of Lowry's family snapshots and reading her lively commentary on them. Readers will chuckle as they hear the tale of the frozen rat she attempted to revive by heating it in the oven and will smile knowingly at the unhappy look on her face when she was forced to wear lederhosen her mother brought home from Europe. The author's voice comes through strongly as she shares both her happiest and saddest times. Though the organization is somewhat chronological, many photos are loosely grouped by topic-"War," "Adolescence," "Opening a Trunk" and so forth-which allows her to make connections between people and events. She introduces each photo, or group, with a quotation from one of her books, making a connection between an event in her life and its fictional counterpart. In The Giver (Houghton, 1993), Lowry writes about the importance of memory, and here, she shows her readers the important role it plays in her own life-how she has used her memories in her work, how they have helped her get through difficult times, and how they enrich and connect us. Much more intimate and personal than many traditional memoirs, this work makes readers feel that Lowry is an old friend.
Barbara Scotto, Michael Driscoll School, Brookline, MA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385326998
• ISBN-13: 978-0385326995
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,621 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A touching book that is real and true, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Looking Back: A Book of Memories (Hardcover)

This book deserves an award! It is one of the best books I've ever read. It is basically a book about Lois Lowery's life. It has snapshots and even a passport. She talks all about her life in this book. It is written in first person, which has a way of making you feel like you're her best friend, or mother, or sister, or brother. Some parts are funny, some parts are sad. And some parts are just true, and they happen all the time in everyone's life. I read this book cover to cover in less than a day, and I'll bet a bunch of other people did too! Get this book today!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for any age, May 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Looking Back: A Book of Memories (Hardcover)

If you are a child, parent, teacher, librarian, or just plain human - you will love this book. Especially if you have enjoyed the books of Lois Lowry, you will appreciate seeing how her own life experiences have shaped her later fiction. Not really an autobiography, not really a memoir, "Looking Back" is more a visit with a friend who tells wonderful stories and makes you feel very much at home. And the photographs are incredible. A great gift!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars She used her own life as an inspiration for her writing, October 14, 2005

A Kid's Review

The memoir I read is called "Looking Back a Book of Memories" by Lois Lowry. The book is a collection of Lois Lowry's memories throughout her life. Lois Lowry is a prize winning writer of fiction novels. Each chapter is separate memory. She begins each chapter with a quote from one of her many novels. In this memoir she relates different quotes from her novels back to life experiences. The memories that she describes seem to be used throughout her novels. Writers will draw on memories and events from their own life as part of their story telling.

Lois Lowry noted that she has a lot of babies as characters in her books. For example, in the novel "The Giver" one of the characters was the baby Gabriel. In the novel "Rabble Starkey" there was a baby named Gunter Bigelow. Lois Lowry thinks that she likes to use baby characters because she likes newborn babies. Her fondness for newborn babies was started by a picture her father took of her when she was born in 1937. Fathers weren't normally allowed in the hospital ward but he worked for the hospital and he was a photographer. Her memoir also includes pictures of grandchildren as babies.

In the book, "Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye", she describes a girl looking up as she is standing in thick forest. She describes the emotions as fearful, humorous, and warmth all wrapped together. When Lois was two years old her father took a picture of her standing in a thick "tropical growth" near her house in Hawaii. She is looking up at her father's camera in the same way that she describes the girl in the book. She comments that her life had challenges but was mostly filled with warmth and humor. She says most of the time she remembers she laughed a lot.

In the book, "Anastasia at Your Service", she describes a scene where a young boy is trying to prove to another young girl that he can read. In this scene it is very important for the young boy to be able to read and prove it. She relates this to her need to want to read. When she was 3 years old and her sister was 6 they would play school. Her sister was the teacher because she could read. Lois wanted to read so that she could be the teacher.

In her book of memories, Lois Lowry describes her life using quotes from her fictional books. She discovered that most of the scenes in her books came from her own experiences. She used her own life as an inspiration for her writing. It would be easy to find scenes inspired by her own life in her books because so much of her own life is in her books. She documented many of these in her book of memories.