Some Lowrys for a Long Flight

After planning a brief trip to Georgia for Presidents' Day, I found myself in the library looking for a book to read for the first time in almost nine months. Nine months! This is what teaching public high school has done to me. I had hoped to find one of the new 2013 Newbery winners, but I should have known better than to find them available just a few weeks after they were announced. So, I did what any Newbery lover would do in a bind; I checked out two Lois Lowrys and headed out on my trip.

The Giver has long been in my top ten (since my first read in 6/96) and I could barely remember the details since my last read (11/98), so that fully entertained me on the flight to Atlanta. I had totally forgotten about The Stirrings and the previous Giver and the process by which the Giver transmits memories (which is still pretty unbelievable to me), but I remembered the controversial ending quite vividly, most likely due to many a heated conversation with friends and family about the boy's ultimate fate. And I still, no matter what you say, am hopeful.

 I pulled out my next Lowry masterpiece, Number the Stars, right as I sat down on the plane leaving Atlanta. I was only a few pages in when I noticed the woman across the aisle eyeing me and my literature. She finally mustered the courage to say, "This is so crazy, but that was my favorite book growing up! What are the odds that you would be reading it?! It's such a random book to love!" I smiled and told her I loved it, too, but was very amused that she thought it was so crazy and random that we both liked Number the Stars. Wasn't it a staple in most kids' reading diet? Anyway, it turns out I had completely forgotten this one (first and only read in 11/95) despite always claiming to like it (mostly because I love anything Holocaust-related) and discovered again that I do. Reading the dusk jacket about the Danish resistance movement (and subsequent research I conducted about it) intensified my appreciation for the sacrifices non-Jews made for their Jewish friends and acquaintances. Did you know that Denmark saved over 99% of its Jewish population by hiding them and ferrying them to Sweden? And then there's Niels Bohr! He's a story for another day.

Lois Lowry for the entertainment win!