See You Around, Sam! - Softcover

Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader’s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award. Ms. Lowry now divides her time between Cambridge and an 1840s farmhouse in Maine. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com

Grade 1-5?Anastasia's younger brother Sam's side of the story is continued in this latest volume of the Krupnik family saga. When his normally understanding mother exhibits an unreasonably negative reaction to his plastic vampire mouthpiece (a result of the fangphobia she developed while watching that Tom Cruise movie), Sam decides his only recourse is to run away to Alaska. (Walrus tusks are commonplace, so fangs shouldn't cause a stir there.) The strengths of this series have always been its cast of multi-dimensional, quirky, but very believable characters and their humorous, astute observations. On his travels, Sam visits with familiar neighbors, Gertrude Stein and Mrs. Sheehan, who have been apprised of his plans through telephone contact with Mrs. Krupnik, and he has a genuine heart-to-heart talk with his big sister. Added to the panoply of personalities are a letter carrier who memorizes zip codes and makes pasta sculptures in his spare time and a neighbor who sports Sam around on his wheelchair but can't give up smoking. True to the structure of the other books, tension and events build to a climactic final scene in which all the characters, even minor ones, play a significant role and everyone realizes that "It's a very grown-up thing to change your mind." This is a perfect choice for introducing young listeners to chapter books as common threads are carried throughout, and both humor and pathos are abundant. Long-time friends of the Krupniks will sink their teeth into this latest installment with relish. Fangs alot, Lois Lowry!?Starr LaTronica, Four County Library System, Vestal, NY
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