Anastasia Krupnik

Anastasia Krupnik
AuthorLois Lowry
Cover artistDiane deGroat
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Anastasia Series
GenreYoung adult
PublisherHoughton Mifflin
Publication date
1979
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages133
ISBN978-0395286296
OCLC5170336
813.54
LC ClassPZ7.L9673 An
Followed byAnastasia Again! 

Anastasia Krupnik (1979) is the first book of a popular series of middle-grade novels by Lois Lowry, depicting the title character's life as a girl "just trying to grow up." Anastasia deals with everyday problems such as popularity, the wart on her thumb or the new arrival of her little brother, Sam. The book is written in episodic fashion, each chapter self-contained with minimal narrative link to the others. At the end of each chapter is a list written by Anastasia, listing her likes and dislikes, showing the character's growth and development through the story.

The Anastasia Krupnik series was 29th on the American Library Association's "The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000"[1] for reasons such as references to beer, Playboy magazine, and a casual reference to a character wanting to kill herself. The series was also criticized because one novel of the series featured Anastasia replying to a personal ad and lying about her age and her life to an older man; however, the two never have any romantic experiences and when they meet, the man has no idea Anastasia is the woman to whom he had been writing.[2]

The book was adapted for the stage by Meryl Friedman[3][4] and premiered "in 1998 at Chicago's Lifeline Theatre, where Friedman was a founder and producing director".[4] It has been performed many places elsewhere, including Burbank, California in 1999[4][5] and Sacramento, California in 2013.

  1. ^ 100 Most Frequently Banned Books Archived 2008-02-18 at the Wayback Machine, American Library Association.
  2. ^ "Children's book banned from Florida school library". firstamendmentcenter.org. First Amendment Center, Freedom Forum. Associated Press. February 26, 2005. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  3. ^ Friedman, Meryl (Adapted by) (2001). Lois Lowry's Anastasia Krupnik. Dramatic Publishing. ISBN 9781583420799.
  4. ^ a b c Heffley, Lynne (September 23, 1999). "Arts Zone : Spunky 'Anastasia' Leaps From Page to Stage". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  5. ^ "The Guide: Kid Stuff". Los Angeles Magazine. Vol. 44, no. 12. Emmis Communications. December 1999. ISSN 1522-9149. Retrieved April 5, 2017 – via Google Books.