Lois Lowry's first children's book 'A Summer to Die' was published in 1977. In 1979 Lowry finished Anastasia Krupnik the story of a quirky 10-year-old girl who wants to become a writer. During the 1980s Anastasia reappeared in numerous books. In 1990 Lowry's novel 'Number the Stars' received the prestigious Newbery Medal. Four years later Lowry won a second Newbery Medal for her most well-known book 'The Giver.' More recently Lois Lowry has been writing a lighthearted series for younger readers about a spirited second-grade girl named Gooney Bird Greene.