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Autumn Street
by
Lois Lowry
When her father leaves to fight in World War II, Elizabeth goes with her mother and sister to her grandfather's house, where she learns to face up to the always puzzling and often cruel realities of the adult world.
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
May 20th 1980
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(first published 1980)
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I read a lot of novels for middle grade readers. I find they are often more well written than adult fiction. I have also noticed many of the books are written about children, but middle grade children wouldn't always understand them. Oh, they would get the gist of the story, but the language/vocabulary and the depth of the relationships between characters wouldn't be fully grasped. I am in no way suggesting authors should "dumb down" their work--it's always good for young readers to ...more
I can't even believe how much sadness is in this book. I mean, I work with kids, and I feel like I know how much trauma can happen to kids, and how much it can impact them. But this book wasn't about a homeless kid with an abusive mom's boyfriend, or any of the other things at work that make me cry. This was a six year old who sees a lot happen, and doesn't see a lot more, and figures out how much things in life can hurt sometimes. And I expected some war and some death and some racism in th...more
Well holy crap! This was quite a book. If you don't want to get all rattled and choked up and needing a hug, maybe you shouldn't read it, because it's a rough one.
I've said before that my favorite thing about Lois Lowry is that she writes about weird kids. I don't mean weird like effortful stuff, but just, you know, weird. The kids who think too much and are different because they just ARE and who can't figure out why the world works the way it does when often that way is so awful. K...more
I've said before that my favorite thing about Lois Lowry is that she writes about weird kids. I don't mean weird like effortful stuff, but just, you know, weird. The kids who think too much and are different because they just ARE and who can't figure out why the world works the way it does when often that way is so awful. K...more
Tristan bought this home from school to read for his language arts class. I got ahead of him (his group) and I found a few parts kinda disturbing, like when the girl and the boy want to look at each other. This book is kinda old and today it is obviously a different time from when this story was written (or takes place) because kids are bought up today that this is not acceptable and they aren't allowed to do that sort of thing. I am presuming Tristan's teacher also got ahead and probably pull...more
As always with Lois Lowry, this book is a bit of a hard read. The story is told from the perspective of a six-year-old girl. The story deals with war, racism, death, gossip amongst other things. It's a lot to read through. Layers on layers of meaning, trying to remember being six whilst reading with an adult's eye. There is a reason this woman has won pretty much every writing award out there. Beautifully done, as always.
I was in 5th grade when Lois Lowry published this novel and I absolutely love it. She is more of a children's author now but I believe this one was for young adults, and somewhat autobiographical as well since she also lived in PA during WWII with her maternal grandparents. This wasn't a typical story I was used to...I had read lighthearted stories with some sort of parable attached to it. This book has overly adult themes and looking back on it, it was really such a dark story. It was the f...more
I read this book the first time when I was 9, and have returned to it periodically since. It is a beautifully written near-memoir, one you could appreciate as children's literature or a really good fictionalized autobiography.
was so mad when I forgot handmaid's tale today--was going to read while administering PSSA's, so I picked this one up in the library.... nicely written about a girl who lived at her grandfather's house during ww2....
My absolute favorite book of all time. I read it as a child and fell in love with it, and love it more today.
I liked this book. It was one of those books that makes you think, but not too strong for tweens and teens.
Book about a very young girl during the war. She had to learn some hard hard things unfortunately.
I cried at teh ending! this is such a great book! i recomend it to anyone of any age 10 and older
This is the sort of children's book that leaves grown ups with much to think about.
I actually think I read this one a long time ago, but since I can't remember....
This book is so boring at first.then at the end it turns out to be kinda good.
so amazing, the depth of sensory and emotional memory from childhood that this book portrays.
loved the book-but then it was ssoo depressing!!!!!!
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Fantastic read
I think I would give this 3.5 stars, but am moving it up to 4 because I loved the voice of the novel. It is narrated from the viewpoint of a 6 year old girl, and it was so simple, honest, and compelling. There were moments when I just had to chuckle out loud, and the ending made me tear up a bit. I felt that it was a very well written novel. There is just something about hearing a story like this from a 6 year old that registers with you.
This lesser-known book by Lois Lowry is a deep, rich tale of discrimination and murder. Told through the eyes of a six-year-old Elizabeth, her limited yet honest view of the world around her is realistic. The book has the feel of eyes at half-mast,somewhat murky and sleep-like; much the way I feel when trying to comprehend how someone can have such hatred simply because of skin pigmentation.
Simply beautiful, this story will stay with you forever. I'd expect nothing less from Lois Lowry...she continues to amaze me each time.
After the charm and wit of the Anastasia books, I recall being rather unprepared for the more serious tone of this one. War, death, serious sibling rivalry, all pop up in this little book. Definitely a strange turn for Lowry. A good book, but for a young kid who was looking for more fun with Anastasia, rather alarming.
I read this book after listening to Lois Lowry at the FAME conference. I have read most of her other books, but never heard of this one. She stated that this was her personal favorite of all the books she had written. I liked the book and found it to be very different from her other books.
This book was a quick read. Some sadness and excitement at the end. I thought the dialogue was good, storyline not very exciting, characters above average. Racism is there in between the lines - the reader comes to that realization as the book goes on.
I took this brand new book out the library and my dog chewed the corner!
This was my first Lowry and it got me hooked.
This was my first Lowry and it got me hooked.
A great story about two unlikely friends. I love lowry's ability to create deep, memorable characters.
I read this many times as a kid. To me it's one of the jewels of children's literature.
I remember this being a surprisingly sad book, which I read in third or fourth grade.
uhhhhhh well no offense but I dont have anything to say
My favorite children's book EVER!
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Taken from Lowry's website:
"I’ve always felt that I was fortunate to have been born the middle child of three. My older sister, Helen, was very much like our mother: gentle, family-oriented, eager to please. Little brother Jon was the only boy and had interests that he shared with Dad; together they were always working on electric trains and erector sets; and later, when Jon was older, ...more
More about Lois Lowry...
"I’ve always felt that I was fortunate to have been born the middle child of three. My older sister, Helen, was very much like our mother: gentle, family-oriented, eager to please. Little brother Jon was the only boy and had interests that he shared with Dad; together they were always working on electric trains and erector sets; and later, when Jon was older, ...more
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“I didn't understand the war. It was new, and they all said it would be there for a long time, but where it was, exactly, was one of the things I didn't understand. It seemed to be out-of-doors, and that was why we had the blackout curtains, so that we didn't have to look at it at night–or it didn't have to look at us, perhaps. Yet on some nights we sat on the balcony and watched searchlights play across the dark sky, and that had to do with the war, too. So the war was in the sky, somehow.
And it was there in the daytime, though I was not sure where. It was why sometimes, during school, whistles blew, and we had to run to the subway station.”
—
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More quotes…
And it was there in the daytime, though I was not sure where. It was why sometimes, during school, whistles blew, and we had to run to the subway station.”
