Looking Back: A Book of Memories Hardcover - 1998

Details

• Title Looking Back: A Book of Memories
• Author Lois Lowry
• Binding Hardcover
• Edition First Edition
• Pages 192
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Clarion Books, Boston
• Date 1998-10-26
• Illustrated Yes
• ISBN 9780395895436 / 039589543X
• Weight 1.48 lbs (0.67 kg)
• Dimensions 9 x 7.5 x 0.7 in (22.86 x 19.05 x 1.78 cm)
• Ages 10 to 12 years
• Grade levels 5 - 7
• Reading level 900
• Library of Congress subjects Women authors, American, Authors, American
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 98-11376
• Dewey Decimal Code B

This unusual book contains photographs from Lowry's past and her reflections on them. In the introduction, she suggests that the book will answer readers who ask, "How do you get ideas?" Toward that end, every section begins with a quotation from one of Lowry's books that relates in some way to the subject of the photo. Think of yourself sitting down with Lowry and looking through her albums while she stops and points at pictures of herself as a child and a teenager, photos of her parents and siblings and, then, more recent pictures of her children and grandchildren. Each picture evokes a memory that is a paragraph to a couple of pages long. Readers who remember the deftly portrayed family relationships in Lowry's novels will be fascinated by pictures of Lowry, her older sister, and her younger brother, as well as the often amusing tales of their youth. The mood is not always light, though, and few will be unmoved by Lowry's reflections on her son Grey's death in 1995....Only a writer with Lowry's blend of humor, detachment, and storytelling ability could make the form work.
Booklist, ALA

"Imagine sitting on a sofa with a friend listening with fascination while she tells you about the pictures in her photo album. That is the feeling once has when browsing through this book of Lowry's family snapshots and reading her lively commentary on them. . . . The author's voice comes through strongly as she shares both her happiest and saddest times. . . . Much more intimate and personal than many traditional memories, this work makes readers feel that Lowry is an old friend." School Library Journal