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Anastasia Krupnik (Anastasia Krupnik, #1)

Lois Lowry

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Apr 07, 2011 Jess rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: juv, audiobook

Rereading Anastasia is like revisiting a place that you didn't quite remember you'd been to, but as soon as you get there everything seems familiar. Mrs. Westvessel, Washburn Cummings, the lists, her mole, her changing relationship with her grandmother, her secret bad thoughts, her poetry outfit. It was all tucked away in some obscure part of my brain, waiting to be rediscovered. I reread the book a few years ago, for the first time since middle school, probably, and listening to it on audio bro Rereading Anastasia is like revisiting a place that you didn't quite remember you'd been to, but as soon as you get there everything seems familiar. Mrs. Westvessel, Washburn Cummings, the lists, her mole, her changing relationship with her grandmother, her secret bad thoughts, her poetry outfit. It was all tucked away in some obscure part of my brain, waiting to be rediscovered. I reread the book a few years ago, for the first time since middle school, probably, and listening to it on audio brought back that same feeling.

I have to confess - I almost didn't keep going with the audio version. C.J. Critt does a great job of inhabiting the world of a ten-year-old, but she inserts these long pauses into the narrative as if waiting for a slow reader to follow along the page with her. This is downright annoying at first, especially when you can hear her inhaling, but fortunately I was stuck with it on a 40 minute drive and by the time I was a few tracks in, I was hooked. It's a short book and I listened to the whole thing in one day, what with a slightly longer drive home and listening while cooking dinner.

But what's so great about Anastasia and the way Lois Lowry tells her story? Simply that I believe Anastasia is a ten year old. She's on the edge of figuring out the world - what does she love and hate? How does she reconcile her interior world with reality? She has a life that was enough like mine for me to relate, but different enough to feel exciting. She's funny. She makes lists. Also, rereading as an adult, her parents seem awesome - fully fleshed-out characters that I wouldn't mind hanging out with.

Sure, there are a few dated things in the book - the college students smoking in class, her parents finding out they're having a boy after taking a special test, not because of an ultrasound, and a few other references, but Anastasia as a character doesn't date at all. It doesn't look like the rest of the series is available on audio through my library (or maybe at all), but I'm eager to reread the whole series and discover more bits I'd forgotten (I know there's a character named Lloyd later in the series because I distinctly remember someone insisting it be pronounced "Yoyd").

Source: my library ...more

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