Lois Lowry

Lois Ann Lowry is an American Author. She is the author of several children's books as well as Novels for young Adults, including The Giver Quarlet, Number the stars anr Rabbie Starkley. She is known for writing about difficult subject matters, dystopias, and complex themes in works for younger audiences.
Lowry has won two Newbery metals: for number the stars in 1990 and the giver in 1994. Her book Gooney Bird Greene won the 2002 Rhode Island Children's Book Award. 
Many of her books have been challenged to be taken out of school libraries, or even been entirely banned in others. The Giver is one of these books.
== Writing Career ==
Lowry first began her writing carrer as a freelance journalist. In the 1970's, she submitted a short story to RedBook magazine, which was intended for an adult audience, but written from a child's perspective. An editor who read the Redbook story suggested to Lowry that she write a children's book. Lowry agreed and wrote her first book A Summer to Die, which was later published by Houghton Mifflin in 1977 when she was 40 years old. The book featured the theme of terminal illness, which is based on Lowry's own experiences with her sister.
Lowry continued to write about difficult topics in her next publication, Autumn Street (1979), which explores themes of coping with racism, grief, and fear at a young age. The novel is told from the perspective of a young girl who is sent to live with her grandfather during World War II, which is also based on her own experiences. 
Lowry published Number the Stars in 1989, which received multiple awards, including the 1990 Newbery Medal. Lowry received another Newbery in 1994, for The Giver (1993). After publishing The Giver, she went on to publish another three companion novels that take place in the same universe: Gathering Blue, Messenger, and finally Son, which tied all three of the previous books together. Collectively, they are referred to as The Giver Quartet. The New York Times described the quartet as "less a speculative fiction than a kind of guide for teaching children (and their parents, if they're listening carefully) how to be a good person."