A prolific author of books for children and young adults, Lois Lowry writes to communicate, as she says, "that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."

Her books are both humorous and profound, and range from lighthearted coming-of-age stories set firmly in realistic settings to modern fantasy and science fiction. She has won two Newberry Awards: one in 1990 for her book Number the Stars, and a second in 1994 for The Giver.

I spent a large chunk of my childhood at the Napa City County Library. I tended to return to the books I loved over and over, checking them out so often that I felt like they were mine. Many of them were by Lois Lowry. As an adult, my author study is both a tribute to the books I loved as a younger person and an exploration of the author who created them.