Lois Lowry is one of the most popular and widely acclaimed twentieth-century American writers of children's and young adult fiction. By the end of 1996, she had written twenty-three novels for young readers, works that include autobiographical, historical, humorous, and problem fiction. She has won almost every major award given for American children's literature, including the Boston-Globe Horn Book Award for Rabble Starkey and the Newbery Medal for both Number the Stars and The Giver.

Many of her twelve books about Anastasia and Sam Krupnik have dominated children's choice awards in many states and her work frequently appears on lists of best-selling children's books.

In Lois Lowry, Joel D. Chaston presents the first comprehensive critical study of Lowry's work. In his first chapter, he looks at Lowry's career as a whole, from her early work as a photographer and freelance writer for publications such as the New York Times and Down East, through her discovery by a children's editor at Houghton Mifflin and her distinguished career writing for children and young adults.

Throughout this book, Chaston provides a careful reading and aesthetic critique of the themes, style, and structure of Lowry's books, exploring connections between them and earlier works of children's literature. Chaston's study includes careful analysis of all of Lowry's major works, including chapters devoted to Lowry's early children's books, her popular Anastasia series, her other humorous fiction, and her award-winning novels.

The final chapter assesses Lowry's achievements as a writer and her impact on contemporary children's fiction.