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Building 903
Not yet published
Expected 29 Sep 26In the tradition of her bestselling, award-winning phenomenon, The Giver, Lois Lowry delivers a story about censorship, comfort, complicity, and the radical power of books to open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful the imagination.Twins Tessa and Theo live in a world ruled by the tyrannical Koziris, where there are no dangers or rebels... or so they've been told. In this world, citizens live long lives, and while many hate Koziris, they are comfortable and safe. So, when Tessa's brother disappears, nobody wants to discuss it. But then Miriam, their 135-year-old neighbor bound for the retirement community, slips Tessa a key—not only to her brother's disappearance, but to the source of all real magic . . . books. As Tessa and her parents begin their search for Theo, Tessa learns that books not only tell us stories—they open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful the imagination. Once that truth has been revealed, Tessa won't be able to rest until she has retrieved her twin and society itself has been transformed.
Two-time Newbery-winner Lois Lowry has crafted a narrative that feels at once prescient and in this world, the imagination is the revolution. Not only does Building 903 sit in the same resonant space as The Giver Quartet, but it is also a profound addition to Lois's enduring body of work—and a testament to the strength and value of her voice, vision, and legacy.
Two-time Newbery-winner Lois Lowry has crafted a narrative that feels at once prescient and in this world, the imagination is the revolution. Not only does Building 903 sit in the same resonant space as The Giver Quartet, but it is also a profound addition to Lois's enduring body of work—and a testament to the strength and value of her voice, vision, and legacy.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 29, 2026
About the author
Lois Lowry
187 books23.3k followersTaken 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, they always seemed to have their heads under the raised hood of a car. That left me in-between, and exactly where I wanted most to be: on my own. I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination.
Because my father was a career military officer - an Army dentist - I lived all over the world. I was born in Hawaii, moved from there to New York, spent the years of World War II in my mother’s hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Tokyo when I was eleven. High school was back in New York City, but by the time I went to college (Brown University in Rhode Island), my family was living in Washington, D.C.
I married young. I had just turned nineteen - just finished my sophomore year in college - when I married a Naval officer and continued the odyssey that military life requires. California. Connecticut (a daughter born there). Florida (a son). South Carolina. Finally Cambridge, Massachusetts, when my husband left the service and entered Harvard Law School (another daughter; another son) and then to Maine - by now with four children under the age of five in tow. My children grew up in Maine. So did I. I returned to college at the University of Southern Maine, got my degree, went to graduate school, and finally began to write professionally, the thing I had dreamed of doing since those childhood years when I had endlessly scribbled stories and poems in notebooks.
After my marriage ended in 1977, when I was forty, I settled into the life I have lived ever since. Today I am back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living and writing in a house dominated by a very shaggy Tibetan Terrier named Bandit. For a change of scenery Martin and I spend time in Maine, where we have an old (it was built in 1768!) farmhouse on top of a hill. In Maine I garden, feed birds, entertain friends, and read...
My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver - and Gathering Blue, and the newest in the trilogy: Messenger - take place against the background of very different cultures and times. Though all three are broader in scope than my earlier books, they nonetheless speak to the same concern: the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
My older son was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. His death in the cockpit of a warplane tore away a piece of my world. But it left me, too, with a wish to honor him by joining the many others trying to find a way to end conflict on this very fragile earth.
I am a grandmother now. For my own grandchildren - and for all those of their generation - I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."
"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, they always seemed to have their heads under the raised hood of a car. That left me in-between, and exactly where I wanted most to be: on my own. I was a solitary child who lived in the world of books and my own vivid imagination.
Because my father was a career military officer - an Army dentist - I lived all over the world. I was born in Hawaii, moved from there to New York, spent the years of World War II in my mother’s hometown: Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and from there went to Tokyo when I was eleven. High school was back in New York City, but by the time I went to college (Brown University in Rhode Island), my family was living in Washington, D.C.
I married young. I had just turned nineteen - just finished my sophomore year in college - when I married a Naval officer and continued the odyssey that military life requires. California. Connecticut (a daughter born there). Florida (a son). South Carolina. Finally Cambridge, Massachusetts, when my husband left the service and entered Harvard Law School (another daughter; another son) and then to Maine - by now with four children under the age of five in tow. My children grew up in Maine. So did I. I returned to college at the University of Southern Maine, got my degree, went to graduate school, and finally began to write professionally, the thing I had dreamed of doing since those childhood years when I had endlessly scribbled stories and poems in notebooks.
After my marriage ended in 1977, when I was forty, I settled into the life I have lived ever since. Today I am back in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living and writing in a house dominated by a very shaggy Tibetan Terrier named Bandit. For a change of scenery Martin and I spend time in Maine, where we have an old (it was built in 1768!) farmhouse on top of a hill. In Maine I garden, feed birds, entertain friends, and read...
My books have varied in content and style. Yet it seems that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, was a highly fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells the same story: that of the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.
The Giver - and Gathering Blue, and the newest in the trilogy: Messenger - take place against the background of very different cultures and times. Though all three are broader in scope than my earlier books, they nonetheless speak to the same concern: the vital need of people to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.
My older son was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. His death in the cockpit of a warplane tore away a piece of my world. But it left me, too, with a wish to honor him by joining the many others trying to find a way to end conflict on this very fragile earth.
I am a grandmother now. For my own grandchildren - and for all those of their generation - I try, through writing, to convey my passionate awareness that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another."
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
PUBLISH DATE: September 29, 2026
Building 903 by Lois Lowry
5 Stars
There’s something quietly powerful about returning to a familiar voice and realizing it still has new things to say.
Building 903 feels, in many ways, like a thematic companion to The Giver, but it reads less like a repetition and more like a reflection. This is a story about control, comfort, and complicity; but more than that, it’s about what survives when access to stories is taken away. Lowry leans into the idea that books are not just objects, but vessels of memory, identity, and resistance. And here, that idea is explored with a calm, steady intensity that never feels heavy handed.
The world she builds is unsettling not because it is chaotic, but because it is orderly. Safe. Comfortable. That quiet trade off, freedom for ease, sits at the center of the story, and it’s where the emotional weight begins to gather. Through Tessa, we see what it means to question that comfort, and more importantly, what it costs to do so.
One of the most striking elements is how the novel treats storytelling itself. There are clear nods to the kinds of books that shape us; both the challenging and the comforting, and Lowry seems to be reminding readers that all stories, in their own way, expand what it means to be human. But she also complicates that idea. Not every story is told. Not every truth is shared.
By the time we reach the epilogue, the focus shifts in a subtle but profound way. The question is no longer just about censorship imposed by a system, but about the quieter, more personal act of choosing what to say and what to withhold. Tessa, now a storyteller herself, makes choices that echo what came before her, deciding which parts of the past are too complex, too painful, or perhaps too intimate to pass on.
That final note lingers. It suggests that even in a world where stories are reclaimed, they are never entirely complete. Some remain fragmented. Some remain hidden. And some, perhaps, are kept that way for a reason.
There’s also a reflective undercurrent running through the novel that feels deeply personal. Without ever stating it outright, the book hints at the idea that a writer’s body of work may extend beyond what is visible, and that not every story needs to be attached to a name to have meaning. It’s a quiet acknowledgment that storytelling, at its core, is bigger than authorship, it’s about connection, memory, and what we choose to leave behind.
Building 903 doesn’t end with clear answers. Instead, it leaves readers with questions, about truth, forgiveness, and the nature of stories themselves. It’s thoughtful, restrained, and quietly haunting in a way that stays with you long after the final page.
This is not just a return to familiar themes. It’s a meditation on them. And it feels, in many ways, like a full circle moment. I’m so incredibly grateful to have read this book and add it to my list of
Novels that mean so much to me.
PUBLISH DATE: September 29, 2026
BOOK TITLE: Building 903
AUTHOR: Lois Lowry
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Children's Books | Clarion Books
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 224
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Building 903 by Lois Lowry
5 Stars
There’s something quietly powerful about returning to a familiar voice and realizing it still has new things to say.
Building 903 feels, in many ways, like a thematic companion to The Giver, but it reads less like a repetition and more like a reflection. This is a story about control, comfort, and complicity; but more than that, it’s about what survives when access to stories is taken away. Lowry leans into the idea that books are not just objects, but vessels of memory, identity, and resistance. And here, that idea is explored with a calm, steady intensity that never feels heavy handed.
The world she builds is unsettling not because it is chaotic, but because it is orderly. Safe. Comfortable. That quiet trade off, freedom for ease, sits at the center of the story, and it’s where the emotional weight begins to gather. Through Tessa, we see what it means to question that comfort, and more importantly, what it costs to do so.
One of the most striking elements is how the novel treats storytelling itself. There are clear nods to the kinds of books that shape us; both the challenging and the comforting, and Lowry seems to be reminding readers that all stories, in their own way, expand what it means to be human. But she also complicates that idea. Not every story is told. Not every truth is shared.
By the time we reach the epilogue, the focus shifts in a subtle but profound way. The question is no longer just about censorship imposed by a system, but about the quieter, more personal act of choosing what to say and what to withhold. Tessa, now a storyteller herself, makes choices that echo what came before her, deciding which parts of the past are too complex, too painful, or perhaps too intimate to pass on.
That final note lingers. It suggests that even in a world where stories are reclaimed, they are never entirely complete. Some remain fragmented. Some remain hidden. And some, perhaps, are kept that way for a reason.
There’s also a reflective undercurrent running through the novel that feels deeply personal. Without ever stating it outright, the book hints at the idea that a writer’s body of work may extend beyond what is visible, and that not every story needs to be attached to a name to have meaning. It’s a quiet acknowledgment that storytelling, at its core, is bigger than authorship, it’s about connection, memory, and what we choose to leave behind.
Building 903 doesn’t end with clear answers. Instead, it leaves readers with questions, about truth, forgiveness, and the nature of stories themselves. It’s thoughtful, restrained, and quietly haunting in a way that stays with you long after the final page.
This is not just a return to familiar themes. It’s a meditation on them. And it feels, in many ways, like a full circle moment. I’m so incredibly grateful to have read this book and add it to my list of
Novels that mean so much to me.
PUBLISH DATE: September 29, 2026
BOOK TITLE: Building 903
AUTHOR: Lois Lowry
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins Children's Books | Clarion Books
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 224
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Read
April 27, 2026Not giving a star rating for this one.
Everyone should know Lois Lowry; The Giver and Number the Stars are both absolute classics. I was more than a little surprised to see this book coming out, as I didn’t think Lowry was still writing. But The Giver was so formative for me I leapt at it.
This is set in a dystopian future, after numerous climate change catastrophes, in a United States ruled by a man who is the only one allowed to run in the supposed elections still being held (his crassness, cycling through wives, and oddly colored dyed hair make the inspiration here… unsubtle). Peoples’ lives are tightly controlled, and many things are outlawed. Our protagonist, Tessa, learns about some of them when her elderly-but-spry neighbor is sent to mandatory retirement and slips her a collection of contraband - strange things called “books” that are full of oddly compelling untruths called “stories.” Tessa’s twin brother had vanished several months before the story, and there are clues that his disappearance was also connected to these illegal books.
If this sounds thematically familiar to The Giver, it’s because it is. And that’s what leads me to conclude I’m fundamentally incapable of giving this book a fair review.
The Giver was, as I said above, formative for me. I read it somewhere around age 10 and it completely blew my mind. So as I was reading this book, which addressed so many of the same themes and with a setting so reminiscent of the dystopia of The Giver, I expected to feel the same kind of thing. That didn’t happen, and I truthfully think it wasn’t fair of me to expect it to. The Giver doesn’t hold up that well as an adult; I revisited it a few years ago, and it was very definitely targeted at younger readers than me. I had the same kind of problems with Building 903 as I did then, having things in my head like, “oh come on, they managed to outlaw STORIES?”
And yet I didn’t have a problem with that sort of thing with The Giver. So I don’t know. I’ll have to throw this at some of my niblings and see how they feel about it.
My blog.
Everyone should know Lois Lowry; The Giver and Number the Stars are both absolute classics. I was more than a little surprised to see this book coming out, as I didn’t think Lowry was still writing. But The Giver was so formative for me I leapt at it.
This is set in a dystopian future, after numerous climate change catastrophes, in a United States ruled by a man who is the only one allowed to run in the supposed elections still being held (his crassness, cycling through wives, and oddly colored dyed hair make the inspiration here… unsubtle). Peoples’ lives are tightly controlled, and many things are outlawed. Our protagonist, Tessa, learns about some of them when her elderly-but-spry neighbor is sent to mandatory retirement and slips her a collection of contraband - strange things called “books” that are full of oddly compelling untruths called “stories.” Tessa’s twin brother had vanished several months before the story, and there are clues that his disappearance was also connected to these illegal books.
If this sounds thematically familiar to The Giver, it’s because it is. And that’s what leads me to conclude I’m fundamentally incapable of giving this book a fair review.
The Giver was, as I said above, formative for me. I read it somewhere around age 10 and it completely blew my mind. So as I was reading this book, which addressed so many of the same themes and with a setting so reminiscent of the dystopia of The Giver, I expected to feel the same kind of thing. That didn’t happen, and I truthfully think it wasn’t fair of me to expect it to. The Giver doesn’t hold up that well as an adult; I revisited it a few years ago, and it was very definitely targeted at younger readers than me. I had the same kind of problems with Building 903 as I did then, having things in my head like, “oh come on, they managed to outlaw STORIES?”
And yet I didn’t have a problem with that sort of thing with The Giver. So I don’t know. I’ll have to throw this at some of my niblings and see how they feel about it.
My blog.
Want to Read
February 10, 2026I know this book is going to be iconic.
June 20, 2026
Building 903
Rating: ⭐️⭐️ (1.5 stars; round up)
Format: ebook
Initial thoughts: What did I just read?
I’ve read and loved a majority of Lois Lowry’s books since I was 13 years old. When I saw she was releasing a new novel, I jumped at the chance to read it.
Highlights:
⭐️The premise/world of the novel is very on par with her typical dystopian setting.
🌟The idea of the novel was promising and intriguing.
Pitfalls:
❌Lack of connection to characters. While I initially liked Tessa and her family, the connection between reader and characters didn’t build into anything. I didn’t feel any emotional warmth, sadness, happiness, etc., to any of the characters.
❌Uneventful plot. Nothing happened. Her brother went missing. Citizens didn’t like the government. A lot of it felt like it occurred off-screen.
❌Unanswered questions. I have a lot and I’m confused.
❌Weird way to incorporate a religious agenda? I don’t want to spoil anything, so read the book if you are intrigued. I’m religious and even I felt like it was a little random how this tied into the (lack of) a plot.
Honestly, I feel like I accidentally read a spin-off novella to a book series I never read before. I’m that confused.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for an ARC of this book for my honest opinion and review!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️ (1.5 stars; round up)
Format: ebook
Initial thoughts: What did I just read?
I’ve read and loved a majority of Lois Lowry’s books since I was 13 years old. When I saw she was releasing a new novel, I jumped at the chance to read it.
Highlights:
⭐️The premise/world of the novel is very on par with her typical dystopian setting.
🌟The idea of the novel was promising and intriguing.
Pitfalls:
❌Lack of connection to characters. While I initially liked Tessa and her family, the connection between reader and characters didn’t build into anything. I didn’t feel any emotional warmth, sadness, happiness, etc., to any of the characters.
❌Uneventful plot. Nothing happened. Her brother went missing. Citizens didn’t like the government. A lot of it felt like it occurred off-screen.
❌Unanswered questions. I have a lot and I’m confused.
❌Weird way to incorporate a religious agenda? I don’t want to spoil anything, so read the book if you are intrigued. I’m religious and even I felt like it was a little random how this tied into the (lack of) a plot.
Honestly, I feel like I accidentally read a spin-off novella to a book series I never read before. I’m that confused.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for an ARC of this book for my honest opinion and review!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A deeply moving and quietly powerful read, Building 903 by Lois Lowry left a lasting impression on me long after I turned the final page. Lowry’s signature clarity and emotional depth shine through as she explores memory, identity, and the family with a gentle but unflinching hand. The narrative feels both intimate and expansive, weaving personal reflection with broader context in a way that is accessible to younger readers yet profound. I especially appreciated how the story invites readers to sit with difficult truths while still finding moments of humanity and connection. It is a beautifully crafted work that feels important. I would highly recommend to anyone who values thoughtful storytelling.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
June 12, 2026
eARC review thank you Netgalley! SPOILERS AHEAD!
When I found out Lois Lowry had published another book I jumped at the opportunity to read an advanced copy- especially because the synopsis was eye catching in regards to the theme of censorship and imagination/books. When I applied for it I was under the impression that it was a YA novel, however while reading I feel like there were several points where Lowry lost me as a potential YA reader because the vocabulary and critical thought needed to understand what was happening was at a slightly higher level than what I initially anticipated.
On a similar note I felt like the dystopian setting and Lowry’s trademark narrative style were the strongest parts of the story, because the plot felt weak and disjointed and my interest in the characters with their interpersonal connections was lukewarm at best. I spent the entire book WAITING to feel some strong connection to Tessa and Theo— or even their parents Ginia and Penn. But by the end I mainly cared about Miriam and wanted to know more about Oskar. This story as a whole felt so lackluster and incomplete in terms of the characters and somewhat random side plot of revolution. In a way it almost felt like too many important- and currently relevant- topics were being crammed into one short novel.
When I found out Lois Lowry had published another book I jumped at the opportunity to read an advanced copy- especially because the synopsis was eye catching in regards to the theme of censorship and imagination/books. When I applied for it I was under the impression that it was a YA novel, however while reading I feel like there were several points where Lowry lost me as a potential YA reader because the vocabulary and critical thought needed to understand what was happening was at a slightly higher level than what I initially anticipated.
On a similar note I felt like the dystopian setting and Lowry’s trademark narrative style were the strongest parts of the story, because the plot felt weak and disjointed and my interest in the characters with their interpersonal connections was lukewarm at best. I spent the entire book WAITING to feel some strong connection to Tessa and Theo— or even their parents Ginia and Penn. But by the end I mainly cared about Miriam and wanted to know more about Oskar. This story as a whole felt so lackluster and incomplete in terms of the characters and somewhat random side plot of revolution. In a way it almost felt like too many important- and currently relevant- topics were being crammed into one short novel.
Read
May 9, 2026Thank you to the publishers at Harper Collins for this ARC!
I don’t even know how I’d rate this book. First of all, I love this author and many of her other works. I was very surprised to learn about this book and the bold perspective she decided to take in publishing it, but it is so necessary.
Such an interesting concept that is eerily connected to our present day, with a glimpse into a future roughly 70 years from now. It’s all very relatable & you get a clear sense of what things could quickly turn into in our modern world. I could totally see how our society could mirror this one, and you become hauntingly aware of how close we are to entire generations not having any ability to comprehend concepts, words, and even just normal aspects of our present every day existence. The last 30% was very wham bam 💥 & everything wasn’t clearly explained like I would hope for, but there is room for drawing your own conclusions as is typical for a L.L. book. It’s also meant for middle grade, so it concluded in a way that I believe would make sense for that age range. It also makes sense that the author couldn’t wrap everything up because it’s so close to our current existence in time, & there’s so much flexibility for possibility. I did really appreciate the HOW for what aspects made the impact in the end, as it was a faith-based nod that Lowry is not a stranger to. It would make a great middle school novel study!
I don’t even know how I’d rate this book. First of all, I love this author and many of her other works. I was very surprised to learn about this book and the bold perspective she decided to take in publishing it, but it is so necessary.
Such an interesting concept that is eerily connected to our present day, with a glimpse into a future roughly 70 years from now. It’s all very relatable & you get a clear sense of what things could quickly turn into in our modern world. I could totally see how our society could mirror this one, and you become hauntingly aware of how close we are to entire generations not having any ability to comprehend concepts, words, and even just normal aspects of our present every day existence. The last 30% was very wham bam 💥 & everything wasn’t clearly explained like I would hope for, but there is room for drawing your own conclusions as is typical for a L.L. book. It’s also meant for middle grade, so it concluded in a way that I believe would make sense for that age range. It also makes sense that the author couldn’t wrap everything up because it’s so close to our current existence in time, & there’s so much flexibility for possibility. I did really appreciate the HOW for what aspects made the impact in the end, as it was a faith-based nod that Lowry is not a stranger to. It would make a great middle school novel study!
Read
March 31, 2026I was initially so thrilled to access an early copy of this book, and I think it will likely do well regardless of what I have to say. The dialogue between mainly Tessa and her parents was so incredibly clunky that I found myself unintentionally skimming their conversations (which made up a huge portion of this book). So much of "Remember this?" "Well, you remember when" to provide some context for the reader and fill out the character's shared experiences. Surely there was a smoother way to do this, and I found myself bored by the way they shared information that they all know with each other. It felt like the characters were performing for the reader that they knew was there. I will say the first half does do a good job of establishing the setting and how this particular dystopia works. It feels realistic and certainly age appropriate. The themes championing imagination and of course being pro-book in a concerningly book-banning culture are relevant and important for young readers. Overall, not a slam dunk for me!
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 6, 2026
Reading this felt like coming 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 to one of the authors who shaped my childhood. Growing up in the 90s, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧, completely transformed how I saw stories. So getting an ARC from Lois Lowry who is now 89 years old?? 𝗜𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖. 😭🙌🏼
𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 903 is a more reflective dystopian that leans into themes of 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, and 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 all in the year 𝟐𝟎𝟗𝟗. The world feels eerily plausible; 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, and just 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 enough to make you pause. I especially loved the focus on 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧, not just stories, but portals to 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. It felt like a 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡-𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚 moment coming from an author whose books have done 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 that for so many of us. 📖🔥
It’s 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩, and 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 in the belief that 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, and 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 still matter, even in the most 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 worlds. 🥹
𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 ✨
📚 Books as power / forbidden knowledge
🏛️ Controlled dystopian society
👑 Tyrannical ruler
🔍 Missing sibling / search mission
📖 Stories as portals
🧠 Awakening to truth
💭 Reflective, philosophical dystopian
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗲-𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 💕
𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 903 is a more reflective dystopian that leans into themes of 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, and 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 all in the year 𝟐𝟎𝟗𝟗. The world feels eerily plausible; 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, and just 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 enough to make you pause. I especially loved the focus on 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧, not just stories, but portals to 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. It felt like a 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡-𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙡𝙚 moment coming from an author whose books have done 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 that for so many of us. 📖🔥
It’s 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚, 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩, and 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 in the belief that 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, and 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 still matter, even in the most 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 worlds. 🥹
𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 ✨
📚 Books as power / forbidden knowledge
🏛️ Controlled dystopian society
👑 Tyrannical ruler
🔍 Missing sibling / search mission
📖 Stories as portals
🧠 Awakening to truth
💭 Reflective, philosophical dystopian
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆, 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗲-𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 💕
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July 5, 2026Review to come closer to the release date.
June 28, 2026
Middle grade to younger teen dystopian from the author The Giver and more with book banning and the subsequent loss of Story and Imagination as both concepts and experiences as the focus.
14 year old Tessa lives in the world 2099, a time when true elections with choices in candidates are gone, exercise is done during bot or screen-driven and state dictated sessions rather than on playgrounds and as a part of recreational sports, living pets abolished and replaced with mechanized versions, all meat considered unhealthy and protein provided by manufactured soy foods, and marriage generally occurs at age 27 and every ten years the union is analyzed and can be easily dissolved if both parties wish. Education is, as in most dystopian titles, run by state sponsored schools and is just as techno forward as exercise and pets with children being identified by intellectual potential at 10 and channeled onto appropriate career paths and, in the case of the truly cognitively gifted, removed from their homes at age 16 and placed in special facilities where they are expected to achieve great things. Tessa’s brother was anticipating this fate when he suddenly disappeared overnight and was scrubbed from population records as if he never existed in the first place. When that happened, her father begins to isolate himself in his home office, a special perk of his own gifted status, and cuts off most contact her and her mom, an employee of the state security department. A surprise gift of 3 ancient boxes from a senior adult neighbor who is being forcibly sent to an ElderCare facility reveals assorted odds and ends including a child’s baseball glove and a number of now banned print books starting Tessa and her family down a road of discovery leading to the beginning of understanding what stories are and how vital imagination is which leads to the realization that brilliant Theo took things a futuristic and fantastic leap further and is now literally trapped inside Melville’s Moby Dick story.
So much packed into a relatively short book and in true Lowry style, great characters and setting with a clear problem that must be solved with plenty of contemporary social commentary mixed into the solution. Lovers of books and those disturbed by current book banning trends will appreciate the importance placed on the written word, plus the importance of imagination and getting “lost” in a story.
“The book gave us image-making power. No, that’s not true; we already had image-making power. The book activated it. And then we both had created images
of things we had not previously perceived.” (Theo, as he thinks about what happened as he and his dad read Moby Dick together.)
“It was the long enough lever, I realized, that would allow me to move the world.” (Theo, as he uses the idea of a fulcrum and lever being powerful in the creation of
powerful things to indicate the power of imagination stirred by story/books.)
Building 903 is highly recommended for libraries serving grades 5-9, especially those with high circulation in dystopian and science fiction genres.
*Profanity: none
*Violence: There is an uprising that is likely to have been violent but only the after effects on Tessa’s society are described.
*Sexual content: none
*Representation: Older citizens are perceived respectfully by regular citizens but disregarded by those in power; Physical and cultural descriptions are sparse allowing readers to imagine racial heritages as they wish.
*LBGTQ+: none
Thanks for the digital ARC, Edelweiss and Clarion Books/Harper Collins
14 year old Tessa lives in the world 2099, a time when true elections with choices in candidates are gone, exercise is done during bot or screen-driven and state dictated sessions rather than on playgrounds and as a part of recreational sports, living pets abolished and replaced with mechanized versions, all meat considered unhealthy and protein provided by manufactured soy foods, and marriage generally occurs at age 27 and every ten years the union is analyzed and can be easily dissolved if both parties wish. Education is, as in most dystopian titles, run by state sponsored schools and is just as techno forward as exercise and pets with children being identified by intellectual potential at 10 and channeled onto appropriate career paths and, in the case of the truly cognitively gifted, removed from their homes at age 16 and placed in special facilities where they are expected to achieve great things. Tessa’s brother was anticipating this fate when he suddenly disappeared overnight and was scrubbed from population records as if he never existed in the first place. When that happened, her father begins to isolate himself in his home office, a special perk of his own gifted status, and cuts off most contact her and her mom, an employee of the state security department. A surprise gift of 3 ancient boxes from a senior adult neighbor who is being forcibly sent to an ElderCare facility reveals assorted odds and ends including a child’s baseball glove and a number of now banned print books starting Tessa and her family down a road of discovery leading to the beginning of understanding what stories are and how vital imagination is which leads to the realization that brilliant Theo took things a futuristic and fantastic leap further and is now literally trapped inside Melville’s Moby Dick story.
So much packed into a relatively short book and in true Lowry style, great characters and setting with a clear problem that must be solved with plenty of contemporary social commentary mixed into the solution. Lovers of books and those disturbed by current book banning trends will appreciate the importance placed on the written word, plus the importance of imagination and getting “lost” in a story.
“The book gave us image-making power. No, that’s not true; we already had image-making power. The book activated it. And then we both had created images
of things we had not previously perceived.” (Theo, as he thinks about what happened as he and his dad read Moby Dick together.)
“It was the long enough lever, I realized, that would allow me to move the world.” (Theo, as he uses the idea of a fulcrum and lever being powerful in the creation of
powerful things to indicate the power of imagination stirred by story/books.)
Building 903 is highly recommended for libraries serving grades 5-9, especially those with high circulation in dystopian and science fiction genres.
*Profanity: none
*Violence: There is an uprising that is likely to have been violent but only the after effects on Tessa’s society are described.
*Sexual content: none
*Representation: Older citizens are perceived respectfully by regular citizens but disregarded by those in power; Physical and cultural descriptions are sparse allowing readers to imagine racial heritages as they wish.
*LBGTQ+: none
Thanks for the digital ARC, Edelweiss and Clarion Books/Harper Collins
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely adore The Giver, so I could not smash that request button hard enough when this came across my dashboard. It definitely has Giver vibes - dystopian society, mysterious overlord who has banned anything resembling imagination and personality, etc. But it’s remarkably SLOW, for such a short book. And even though the whole point is the importance of stories and imagination, which is usually my catnip, I just found myself rolling my eyes at all of it.
So our main character is Tessa, a fourteen year old girl living in this brave new world ruled by some dude named Koziris who took over and outlawed elections and everything else. Life is better that way, yada yada yada. There’s a lot of time spent on the rules of this society - people choose a career path at 16, marry at 27, get “retired” at 100, etc. A few months before the events of the novel, Tessa’s twin brother Theo disappeared. Like…literally. He didn’t run away (he left ALL of his stuff behind), and he didn’t die tragically or get kidnapped. He just…isn’t there. It’s something that’s wearing on Tessa and her parents, but by the time the book begins, it’s more like background noise than something they’re actively dealing with.
But then Tessa’s neighbor Miriam gives her a key - which is strange in itself, because there are no locks in this world. Tessa unlocks some hidden compartment at the back of Marie’s closet and finds boxes and boxes of…books. Which are of course forbidden, because stories are lies and lies are bad. I feel like there’s a similar setup in The Giver with regards to stories as well, although that book is set in a more indeterminate “future time”, while this is more grounded about 70ish years in the future. So the books she finds are recognizable to most readers.
I think that’s part of what didn’t work for me here? I haven’t read The Giver in ages, so perhaps it doesn’t hold up anymore, but that book always felt timeless to me. I think that’s the problem with current dystopian fiction - given that we’re basically living in a dystopia right now, there’s this rush to create a future based around what we’re currently seeing, in a way that (I hope) will eventually feel dated. Turns out there’s something to be said for a more vague “before times” setup.
The other problem is the pacing. We start with Theo already having disappeared, and we do eventually find out where he is and what happened (and the deal with Building 903 to boot). But there’s a LOT of telling before we get to that point, and I have to wonder why the story couldn’t just be linear? Without giving too much away, Theo gets involved in some dangerous stuff, which is at the root of his disappearance. Why can’t we see him…doing that? Instead of hearing about it secondhand after the fact? There’s a lot of Tessa faffing about (and SO much whining about not wanting to go on a field trip to a fertilizer plant!), not actually *doing* much of anything. I think it’s mostly to give us some grounding in the world, but Tessa grew up like this, so she doesn’t know any other way of life. And for the most part she’s fully drunk the Kool-Aid, so she’s certainly not a budding revolutionary. That angle could actually be interesting, but here it just makes her sort of boring and scoldy. It’s all a little too on the nose, I think.
So…yeah. I wanted to love this, but it just didn’t land for me.
So our main character is Tessa, a fourteen year old girl living in this brave new world ruled by some dude named Koziris who took over and outlawed elections and everything else. Life is better that way, yada yada yada. There’s a lot of time spent on the rules of this society - people choose a career path at 16, marry at 27, get “retired” at 100, etc. A few months before the events of the novel, Tessa’s twin brother Theo disappeared. Like…literally. He didn’t run away (he left ALL of his stuff behind), and he didn’t die tragically or get kidnapped. He just…isn’t there. It’s something that’s wearing on Tessa and her parents, but by the time the book begins, it’s more like background noise than something they’re actively dealing with.
But then Tessa’s neighbor Miriam gives her a key - which is strange in itself, because there are no locks in this world. Tessa unlocks some hidden compartment at the back of Marie’s closet and finds boxes and boxes of…books. Which are of course forbidden, because stories are lies and lies are bad. I feel like there’s a similar setup in The Giver with regards to stories as well, although that book is set in a more indeterminate “future time”, while this is more grounded about 70ish years in the future. So the books she finds are recognizable to most readers.
I think that’s part of what didn’t work for me here? I haven’t read The Giver in ages, so perhaps it doesn’t hold up anymore, but that book always felt timeless to me. I think that’s the problem with current dystopian fiction - given that we’re basically living in a dystopia right now, there’s this rush to create a future based around what we’re currently seeing, in a way that (I hope) will eventually feel dated. Turns out there’s something to be said for a more vague “before times” setup.
The other problem is the pacing. We start with Theo already having disappeared, and we do eventually find out where he is and what happened (and the deal with Building 903 to boot). But there’s a LOT of telling before we get to that point, and I have to wonder why the story couldn’t just be linear? Without giving too much away, Theo gets involved in some dangerous stuff, which is at the root of his disappearance. Why can’t we see him…doing that? Instead of hearing about it secondhand after the fact? There’s a lot of Tessa faffing about (and SO much whining about not wanting to go on a field trip to a fertilizer plant!), not actually *doing* much of anything. I think it’s mostly to give us some grounding in the world, but Tessa grew up like this, so she doesn’t know any other way of life. And for the most part she’s fully drunk the Kool-Aid, so she’s certainly not a budding revolutionary. That angle could actually be interesting, but here it just makes her sort of boring and scoldy. It’s all a little too on the nose, I think.
So…yeah. I wanted to love this, but it just didn’t land for me.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and Lois Lowry for providng me with an advance copy of this title.
Lois Lowry returns to dystopian territory in Building 903, and while comparisons to The Giver are inevitable, this novel is quite different. In Tessa’s world, citizens are comfortable, safe, obedient, and intellectually starved. Books are forbidden, fiction is considered dangerous because it encourages lies and imagination, and questioning authority has quietly become unthinkable. When Tessa’s twin brother Theo disappears and everyone around her is expected to move on as if he never existed, the story unfolds as both a mystery and an awakening.
One of the most unsettling aspects of this book is not simply that books are banned, but that the very concept of fiction has been criminalized. In this society, stories serve no purpose because they are not “real,” and that idea creates a world stripped not only of literature but of wonder, creativity, and independent thought. Lowry has always been skilled at writing communities that look orderly on the surface while hiding something deeply disturbing underneath, and Building 903 continues that tradition effectively.
I liked the way Lowry handles the speculative element of the hidden books themselves. Tessa discovers that these forbidden volumes do more than tell stories; they function as portals, allowing characters to move through books in ways that are never fully explained. Is it magic? Is it some kind of unexplained science? Lowry leaves that ambiguous. Children are often told to lose themselves in a book or let books take them somewhere new, and here that metaphor becomes literal.
The parallels to contemporary issues like censorship, authoritarian leadership, and the fear of uncomfortable ideas are impossible to miss. This feels like a cautionary tale about what happens when comfort becomes more important than freedom and when a population slowly accepts the disappearance of art, curiosity, and dissent. Because of that, I suspect this title may be popular on banned books lists, which only reinforces the point Lowry is making.
What also struck me while reading is how important librarians and school library media specialists are for their role in putting books like this into the hands of young readers. I am not sure the average sixth grader would necessarily pick up Building 903 on their own, but readers who connected with The City of Ember, The Forbidden Library, or other thoughtful middle grade speculative fiction will find a lot to think about here. This is the kind of book that invites kids to ask bigger questions than adults sometimes expect them to ask.
I had a few reasons for stopping at four stars instead of five. Some of the worldbuilding and the mechanics of the portal‑book concept remain intentionally vague, and readers may wish for a more concrete explanation. Also, the male characters are super smart and the female characters aren’t and that sort of stung. The ending came up abruptly and felt very rushed. I would have liked that to build a little. Still, this is a timely, intelligent, and quietly unsettling read from a legendary author who clearly still trusts kids to think deeply.
Lois Lowry returns to dystopian territory in Building 903, and while comparisons to The Giver are inevitable, this novel is quite different. In Tessa’s world, citizens are comfortable, safe, obedient, and intellectually starved. Books are forbidden, fiction is considered dangerous because it encourages lies and imagination, and questioning authority has quietly become unthinkable. When Tessa’s twin brother Theo disappears and everyone around her is expected to move on as if he never existed, the story unfolds as both a mystery and an awakening.
One of the most unsettling aspects of this book is not simply that books are banned, but that the very concept of fiction has been criminalized. In this society, stories serve no purpose because they are not “real,” and that idea creates a world stripped not only of literature but of wonder, creativity, and independent thought. Lowry has always been skilled at writing communities that look orderly on the surface while hiding something deeply disturbing underneath, and Building 903 continues that tradition effectively.
I liked the way Lowry handles the speculative element of the hidden books themselves. Tessa discovers that these forbidden volumes do more than tell stories; they function as portals, allowing characters to move through books in ways that are never fully explained. Is it magic? Is it some kind of unexplained science? Lowry leaves that ambiguous. Children are often told to lose themselves in a book or let books take them somewhere new, and here that metaphor becomes literal.
The parallels to contemporary issues like censorship, authoritarian leadership, and the fear of uncomfortable ideas are impossible to miss. This feels like a cautionary tale about what happens when comfort becomes more important than freedom and when a population slowly accepts the disappearance of art, curiosity, and dissent. Because of that, I suspect this title may be popular on banned books lists, which only reinforces the point Lowry is making.
What also struck me while reading is how important librarians and school library media specialists are for their role in putting books like this into the hands of young readers. I am not sure the average sixth grader would necessarily pick up Building 903 on their own, but readers who connected with The City of Ember, The Forbidden Library, or other thoughtful middle grade speculative fiction will find a lot to think about here. This is the kind of book that invites kids to ask bigger questions than adults sometimes expect them to ask.
I had a few reasons for stopping at four stars instead of five. Some of the worldbuilding and the mechanics of the portal‑book concept remain intentionally vague, and readers may wish for a more concrete explanation. Also, the male characters are super smart and the female characters aren’t and that sort of stung. The ending came up abruptly and felt very rushed. I would have liked that to build a little. Still, this is a timely, intelligent, and quietly unsettling read from a legendary author who clearly still trusts kids to think deeply.
Read
July 13, 2026Go on, dystopia queen, give us nothing.
First of all, word to the wise--both the director and the narrator of this audiobook failed royally at their jobs, so it is highly recommended that if you want to pick this up, you do so in print. The perspectives shift from third person limited to first person and back again, and there was no pause, ding or other sound to indicate shift, and absolutely no change in voice from the narrator to distinguish between the two, so I was totally unmoored and often confused for a good minute or two before realizing who was speaking. Very bad production; skip it and go for the text version.
Now, for the story. I really liked the setup here, and I could feel how hard it must have been for Lowry to create a new dystopian world when she is the literal model for all middle grade and YA dystopian fiction since 1994 and everyone would be wondering how she'd do it and be comparing it to The Giver. She succeeded here! It's a bit different, in vibes and in language, and that is good so you aren't looking around to find a Jonas easter egg or something.
That being said, this is a hot ass mess! It was all perfectly fine leading up, but then it was like a whole hour was missing from the recording, because we went from
First of all, word to the wise--both the director and the narrator of this audiobook failed royally at their jobs, so it is highly recommended that if you want to pick this up, you do so in print. The perspectives shift from third person limited to first person and back again, and there was no pause, ding or other sound to indicate shift, and absolutely no change in voice from the narrator to distinguish between the two, so I was totally unmoored and often confused for a good minute or two before realizing who was speaking. Very bad production; skip it and go for the text version.
Now, for the story. I really liked the setup here, and I could feel how hard it must have been for Lowry to create a new dystopian world when she is the literal model for all middle grade and YA dystopian fiction since 1994 and everyone would be wondering how she'd do it and be comparing it to The Giver. She succeeded here! It's a bit different, in vibes and in language, and that is good so you aren't looking around to find a Jonas easter egg or something.
That being said, this is a hot ass mess! It was all perfectly fine leading up, but then it was like a whole hour was missing from the recording, because we went from
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In 2099, Tessa and her family are living in a society strictly regimented by the Koziris regime, and mourning the disappearance of her twin brother, Theo. The society is very carefully structured, with people having to retire at 100 (although Koziris is over that limit and won't step down), being allowed ten year marriage contracts where they can renegotiateWhen their 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam Allison, is slated to be sent to Elder Care (with no previous warning, even though she is in good health), Tessa is sad. Miriam gives Tessa a key and tells her to look for something in the closets before she is taken off to the facility. After the cleaners wipe the entire house clean, Tessa sneaks in and unlocks a closet, where there are three cardboard boxes hidden. Her mother, a security person, is appalled, especially since there are illegal books. The books are so illegal that Tessa doesn't even understand the concept of stories, but is enthralled by snippets of Little Women, Charlotte's Web, and Hansel and Gretel. She eventually tells her father, just as Miriam has told her to do. Tessa's father is X-Cogni-Superior but since Theo's disappearance has been checked out, and doesn't stop Tessa's mother from turning in one book to the authorities, even though it has direct ties to Theo's disappearance. Tessa has heard Theo's voice; as twins, they had developed a shared language they called Whisperspeak, so Tessa knows the voice she is hearing is her brother's. He is wet and cold, and has somehow gotten sucked into a book. This means that to save him, Tessa and her parents must travel to Building 903, where the contraband books are being held, and are going to be destroyed in two days. Once there, they talk to Oskar, who is fairly helpful, considering that his working at the building is a life sentence. Without the title of the book, it is hard to locate it, and Tessa has to track down Miriam in Elder Care and get the title. She finds some interesting connections while talking to her neighbor, but manages to get the book. There is a note from Miriam that ends up being page numbers, and Tessa decodes the message. She instructs Theo about what he needs to do to escape the book, but will it be enough?
Strengths: Lowry's work has several generations of fans; her The Giver is frequently used in language arts classrooms. With all of the challenges that children's books have been facing during the current US administration, teachers and librarians everywhere will adore this story about a world where there are no books, and once Tessa finds out about books and her imagination it is absolutely magical. There are all manner of tiny world building strictures, like Pun-Tats that list crimes people have committed right on their arms, museums, churches, and libraries shuttered and abandoned, people being sent to Elder Care without any electronics so they can "rest" that make Tessa's world seem vividly bleak. There is also a lot of fantasy, with Theo being sucked into a book. The message is good, and the book isn't too long. I can see a lot of people using this as a companion to The Giver.
Weaknesses: Lowry is 89, and a legend in the world of children's literature. If any other author had written this, it would have been considered heavy handed. The name "Koziris" in Lithuanian translates to "Trump", and the parallels are definitely there. Saving Theo requires "illegal" activity that is, again, rather heavy handed, and the conclusion to the story is extremely happy, but rather deus ex machina. I never felt connected to any of the characters except for Miriam (after all, she was born the year before I was!), and we don't see much of her. I really wanted to like this more, since I have been a big fan of Lowry's work since I read her first book, A Summer to Die, when it first came out in 1977.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want dystopian novels that draw on current sociopolitical themes, like Lucas' The Vanished Ones, McBride's Gone Wolf, Lu's Legend, or Farmer's The House of the Scorpion.
In 2099, Tessa and her family are living in a society strictly regimented by the Koziris regime, and mourning the disappearance of her twin brother, Theo. The society is very carefully structured, with people having to retire at 100 (although Koziris is over that limit and won't step down), being allowed ten year marriage contracts where they can renegotiateWhen their 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam Allison, is slated to be sent to Elder Care (with no previous warning, even though she is in good health), Tessa is sad. Miriam gives Tessa a key and tells her to look for something in the closets before she is taken off to the facility. After the cleaners wipe the entire house clean, Tessa sneaks in and unlocks a closet, where there are three cardboard boxes hidden. Her mother, a security person, is appalled, especially since there are illegal books. The books are so illegal that Tessa doesn't even understand the concept of stories, but is enthralled by snippets of Little Women, Charlotte's Web, and Hansel and Gretel. She eventually tells her father, just as Miriam has told her to do. Tessa's father is X-Cogni-Superior but since Theo's disappearance has been checked out, and doesn't stop Tessa's mother from turning in one book to the authorities, even though it has direct ties to Theo's disappearance. Tessa has heard Theo's voice; as twins, they had developed a shared language they called Whisperspeak, so Tessa knows the voice she is hearing is her brother's. He is wet and cold, and has somehow gotten sucked into a book. This means that to save him, Tessa and her parents must travel to Building 903, where the contraband books are being held, and are going to be destroyed in two days. Once there, they talk to Oskar, who is fairly helpful, considering that his working at the building is a life sentence. Without the title of the book, it is hard to locate it, and Tessa has to track down Miriam in Elder Care and get the title. She finds some interesting connections while talking to her neighbor, but manages to get the book. There is a note from Miriam that ends up being page numbers, and Tessa decodes the message. She instructs Theo about what he needs to do to escape the book, but will it be enough?
Strengths: Lowry's work has several generations of fans; her The Giver is frequently used in language arts classrooms. With all of the challenges that children's books have been facing during the current US administration, teachers and librarians everywhere will adore this story about a world where there are no books, and once Tessa finds out about books and her imagination it is absolutely magical. There are all manner of tiny world building strictures, like Pun-Tats that list crimes people have committed right on their arms, museums, churches, and libraries shuttered and abandoned, people being sent to Elder Care without any electronics so they can "rest" that make Tessa's world seem vividly bleak. There is also a lot of fantasy, with Theo being sucked into a book. The message is good, and the book isn't too long. I can see a lot of people using this as a companion to The Giver.
Weaknesses: Lowry is 89, and a legend in the world of children's literature. If any other author had written this, it would have been considered heavy handed. The name "Koziris" in Lithuanian translates to "Trump", and the parallels are definitely there. Saving Theo requires "illegal" activity that is, again, rather heavy handed, and the conclusion to the story is extremely happy, but rather deus ex machina. I never felt connected to any of the characters except for Miriam (after all, she was born the year before I was!), and we don't see much of her. I really wanted to like this more, since I have been a big fan of Lowry's work since I read her first book, A Summer to Die, when it first came out in 1977.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want dystopian novels that draw on current sociopolitical themes, like Lucas' The Vanished Ones, McBride's Gone Wolf, Lu's Legend, or Farmer's The House of the Scorpion.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3.5 stars rounded down
Tessa lives in a dystopian nation where both political rights and personal rights like literacy and freedom of religion have been stripped from the populace. Her brother Theo has recently disappeared, and everyone is expected to pretend like he never existed, but when her elder neighbor Miriam leaves her some boxes behind as she moves into Elder Care, she learns that books are truly magical and may be the solution to finding Theo.
I thought the worldbuilding in this book was well done. It’s sort of a hybrid of science fiction and fantasy, although the reason that books can act as portals to other universes was never really explained. If you like books where a sort of wonder is maintained and the reasons behind the fantasy mechanisms aren’t explained, that may not bother you, but if you more prefer things on the science fiction side that may be a problem for you.
There was a surprising amount of religious theming in this book as well. This would be good for children who want to read speculative fiction but still have their stories grounded in faith. The family also all clearly loves each other, and the adults (Tessa and Theo’s parents and their neighbor) are more useful in this book than they are in a lot of middle grade fiction. If you’re frustrated by middle grade protagonists always saving the world on their own without parents who believe something bad is happening, this book is the antidote to that.
I had a problem with both the pacing and with the gender dynamics in this book. The characters didn’t start solving the problem until about 3/4 of the way through the book, so it felt very rushed. It also seemed like the ending was too easy for a dystopian book. It also seemed somewhat anti-feminist to me, as Tessa’s brother and her father are written as genuises and they leave their wife and daughter out of a lot of things because they allegedly won’t understand them. Tessa and her mother are of normal intelligence, and they mostly solve things through their emotions. It’s little messages like this that can tell girls that they’re not smart enough for science and normalize young girls being left out of things they could understand if it was just explained to them.
This book would be good for parents who are looking for a speculative fiction book for their children that’s age-appropriate but still has faith as a strong theme. I’d recommend it to fans of Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Shadow Children series or of The Chronicles of Narnia, but I wouldn’t say it’s as similar to The Giver as the marketing material implies.
Building 903 releases September 26 from Clarion Books. Thank you to Netgalley, Lois Lowry and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Tessa lives in a dystopian nation where both political rights and personal rights like literacy and freedom of religion have been stripped from the populace. Her brother Theo has recently disappeared, and everyone is expected to pretend like he never existed, but when her elder neighbor Miriam leaves her some boxes behind as she moves into Elder Care, she learns that books are truly magical and may be the solution to finding Theo.
I thought the worldbuilding in this book was well done. It’s sort of a hybrid of science fiction and fantasy, although the reason that books can act as portals to other universes was never really explained. If you like books where a sort of wonder is maintained and the reasons behind the fantasy mechanisms aren’t explained, that may not bother you, but if you more prefer things on the science fiction side that may be a problem for you.
There was a surprising amount of religious theming in this book as well. This would be good for children who want to read speculative fiction but still have their stories grounded in faith. The family also all clearly loves each other, and the adults (Tessa and Theo’s parents and their neighbor) are more useful in this book than they are in a lot of middle grade fiction. If you’re frustrated by middle grade protagonists always saving the world on their own without parents who believe something bad is happening, this book is the antidote to that.
I had a problem with both the pacing and with the gender dynamics in this book. The characters didn’t start solving the problem until about 3/4 of the way through the book, so it felt very rushed. It also seemed like the ending was too easy for a dystopian book. It also seemed somewhat anti-feminist to me, as Tessa’s brother and her father are written as genuises and they leave their wife and daughter out of a lot of things because they allegedly won’t understand them. Tessa and her mother are of normal intelligence, and they mostly solve things through their emotions. It’s little messages like this that can tell girls that they’re not smart enough for science and normalize young girls being left out of things they could understand if it was just explained to them.
This book would be good for parents who are looking for a speculative fiction book for their children that’s age-appropriate but still has faith as a strong theme. I’d recommend it to fans of Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Shadow Children series or of The Chronicles of Narnia, but I wouldn’t say it’s as similar to The Giver as the marketing material implies.
Building 903 releases September 26 from Clarion Books. Thank you to Netgalley, Lois Lowry and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Netgalley ARC Review- Thank you for the title!
The fact that we live in a world that inspires the author of The Giver to craft more dystopias is genuinely a tragedy in and of itself. The other tragedy is that I disliked this book for the most part.
Building 903 is very reminiscent of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, with a small side of Reading Rainbow. The issue it suffers from though, is the pacing is pretty abysmal, on account that there is not much that happens in the first half of the book. It's all discussion, and recollection and talking upon talking upon talking.
This book occasionally remembers to remind us how special imagination and writing is. Chapter 7 is a hall-of-fame-level experience alone as someone who grew up with nearly every book referenced but I don't think that most readers are going to get the same experience that I did. A lot of the titles referenced save for three of them are far from what kids are reading today, and it's not going to have the same impact that it would to someone like me who was able to identify every book just based on the excerpts referenced.
Not to mention that the actual Building is not seen nor interacted with until far beyond the halfway point of the story. Which is baffling, honestly.
Then there are the other issues that seem almost unconsciously included. Anti-feminist thought seeps into Lowry's treatment of her female characters, with the men being assigned hyper-intelligence and leaving them to childcare and other unprogressive gender roles. It just seems that when Lowry lowers the intended age group, too much is lost in that shuffle. Gone is the eloquently communicated horror of The Giver.
There could have been so much more to this book if it had not centered on classics that were so lacking in diversity. The novelty of the characters not understanding what basic items/concepts in life are as we know them wears off quickly, and the inclusion of texts readily available in the public domain is fine and dandy, but it feels like it's missing something. It totes imagination as this borderline magical experience and ability, but fails to recognize that it isn't an omnipotent and infallible thing.
The “solution” is also beyond baffling. It's so out of nowhere and makes barely any sense given the context of the rest of the book.
I wanted so much more from this, but am glad that there are other readers getting something from it.
The fact that we live in a world that inspires the author of The Giver to craft more dystopias is genuinely a tragedy in and of itself. The other tragedy is that I disliked this book for the most part.
Building 903 is very reminiscent of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, with a small side of Reading Rainbow. The issue it suffers from though, is the pacing is pretty abysmal, on account that there is not much that happens in the first half of the book. It's all discussion, and recollection and talking upon talking upon talking.
This book occasionally remembers to remind us how special imagination and writing is. Chapter 7 is a hall-of-fame-level experience alone as someone who grew up with nearly every book referenced but I don't think that most readers are going to get the same experience that I did. A lot of the titles referenced save for three of them are far from what kids are reading today, and it's not going to have the same impact that it would to someone like me who was able to identify every book just based on the excerpts referenced.
Not to mention that the actual Building is not seen nor interacted with until far beyond the halfway point of the story. Which is baffling, honestly.
Then there are the other issues that seem almost unconsciously included. Anti-feminist thought seeps into Lowry's treatment of her female characters, with the men being assigned hyper-intelligence and leaving them to childcare and other unprogressive gender roles. It just seems that when Lowry lowers the intended age group, too much is lost in that shuffle. Gone is the eloquently communicated horror of The Giver.
There could have been so much more to this book if it had not centered on classics that were so lacking in diversity. The novelty of the characters not understanding what basic items/concepts in life are as we know them wears off quickly, and the inclusion of texts readily available in the public domain is fine and dandy, but it feels like it's missing something. It totes imagination as this borderline magical experience and ability, but fails to recognize that it isn't an omnipotent and infallible thing.
The “solution” is also beyond baffling. It's so out of nowhere and makes barely any sense given the context of the rest of the book.
I wanted so much more from this, but am glad that there are other readers getting something from it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Tessa and Theo live in a dystopian world where one ruler has all the power, technology has made many things obsolete, and books have been ruled illegal. But one morning, Tessa’s twin, Theo disappears without a trace. As her neighbor is set for a “LifeChange,” she leaves Tessa with a mysterious gift that may be the key to finding her brother.
When I found out Lois Lowry was writing another dystopian book, I immediately jumped at the chance to grab an ARC. From the get go, I was intrigued—truly!—but that quickly turned to disappointment as the story unfolded (or didn’t).
What I loved:
🖤 The cover! I mean are you kidding me!!
🖤 Miriam, the neighbor, was the most intriguing character — her story was mysterious and her character was rebellious.
🖤 There was some connections to history that would make for good discussions and connections to the current government. But something made me cringe — like the Punishment Tattoos 🥴 (it was too similar to the tattoos the Nazis gave Jewish people).
🖤 Extremely easy (and quick) to read.
What I didn’t like:
🚫 The characters (minus Miriam) were flat and boring. There was zero development, which left me with no reason to care about what happened to them.
🚫 There is no plot — it’s a jumbled mess.
🚫 We are told what it’s like to live in this dystopian technological world, but we are not shown. There are some very brief descriptions but they are very childlike—like made for 8-9 year old readers. Tessa is very childlike herself, and we never get any feeling from her. Just that we must follow the rules. Period.
🚫 This seems to be written for very immature readers. I’m trying not to compare it to The Giver, but it’s hard not to—this book does not make you feel, well, anything at all. It’s just too juvenile.
🚫 The ending??! I am religious, but wow the ending came way out of left field and did not fit the book at all. And then, the “big thing” — like what? It just happened with no build up? Seriously, this book had zero plot and development.
Honestly, this book was written very poorly. I expected so much more. If anyone other than Lois Lowry would have written this, it would never have been published. HOWEVER, I can see some very young middle grade readers liking this, so that’s where my rating comes from. If you’re going into this as a Giver fan, be warned — this is not that.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
When I found out Lois Lowry was writing another dystopian book, I immediately jumped at the chance to grab an ARC. From the get go, I was intrigued—truly!—but that quickly turned to disappointment as the story unfolded (or didn’t).
What I loved:
🖤 The cover! I mean are you kidding me!!
🖤 Miriam, the neighbor, was the most intriguing character — her story was mysterious and her character was rebellious.
🖤 There was some connections to history that would make for good discussions and connections to the current government. But something made me cringe — like the Punishment Tattoos 🥴 (it was too similar to the tattoos the Nazis gave Jewish people).
🖤 Extremely easy (and quick) to read.
What I didn’t like:
🚫 The characters (minus Miriam) were flat and boring. There was zero development, which left me with no reason to care about what happened to them.
🚫 There is no plot — it’s a jumbled mess.
🚫 We are told what it’s like to live in this dystopian technological world, but we are not shown. There are some very brief descriptions but they are very childlike—like made for 8-9 year old readers. Tessa is very childlike herself, and we never get any feeling from her. Just that we must follow the rules. Period.
🚫 This seems to be written for very immature readers. I’m trying not to compare it to The Giver, but it’s hard not to—this book does not make you feel, well, anything at all. It’s just too juvenile.
🚫 The ending??! I am religious, but wow the ending came way out of left field and did not fit the book at all. And then, the “big thing” — like what? It just happened with no build up? Seriously, this book had zero plot and development.
Honestly, this book was written very poorly. I expected so much more. If anyone other than Lois Lowry would have written this, it would never have been published. HOWEVER, I can see some very young middle grade readers liking this, so that’s where my rating comes from. If you’re going into this as a Giver fan, be warned — this is not that.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Lois Lowry is back with yet another dystopian societal commentary. In this novel, the leader Koziris has created a society revolving around control and censorship; there are no books, music, trees or animals, and every move is monitored. Honestly, this story is somewhat of a modern adaptation of The Giver with a hint of Fahrenheit 451, but reframed for today's societal issues.
First of all, the world-building was impeccable. Lois Lowry is able to transport you into this extremely censored society in a way that makes it feel like the day-to-day norm. The way she writes modern, everyday items into obsolescence to show the regime’s hold on society is flawless. Lowry also shows the digitization of the world as something that’s written off as a natural progression, leaving behind playgrounds that are now treated as artifacts that children look down on.
The characters were likeable, but I felt like I didn’t know any of them. The main characters are a pair of twins, Tessa and Theo. The story also focuses on their parents and their neighbour, who leaves behind a book for Tessa. The main premise is that Theo goes missing before he has to be taken away from his family to join a government education program, which would mean never speaking to them again. Tessa finds out through her dad, who has been working on a secret communication device, that Theo is still alive, and they go out to find him while trying to keep everything hidden from the government.
Now, I understand that this book is for middle-grade readers, but even though I thought the world-building was brilliant, the characters and story fell flat for me. I understand why Lowry wrote this book, and I think it is a really relevant and timely read, but the plot itself was not working for me; it felt like a background character to Tessa’s discovery of everything that was banned, which gets very redundant the longer the story goes on.
All in all, it was a good book that I think many middle-grade readers would enjoy. I would just be looking for more depth in the plot and characters, but overall a great read.
Thank you to Lois Lowry, Clarion Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
First of all, the world-building was impeccable. Lois Lowry is able to transport you into this extremely censored society in a way that makes it feel like the day-to-day norm. The way she writes modern, everyday items into obsolescence to show the regime’s hold on society is flawless. Lowry also shows the digitization of the world as something that’s written off as a natural progression, leaving behind playgrounds that are now treated as artifacts that children look down on.
The characters were likeable, but I felt like I didn’t know any of them. The main characters are a pair of twins, Tessa and Theo. The story also focuses on their parents and their neighbour, who leaves behind a book for Tessa. The main premise is that Theo goes missing before he has to be taken away from his family to join a government education program, which would mean never speaking to them again. Tessa finds out through her dad, who has been working on a secret communication device, that Theo is still alive, and they go out to find him while trying to keep everything hidden from the government.
Now, I understand that this book is for middle-grade readers, but even though I thought the world-building was brilliant, the characters and story fell flat for me. I understand why Lowry wrote this book, and I think it is a really relevant and timely read, but the plot itself was not working for me; it felt like a background character to Tessa’s discovery of everything that was banned, which gets very redundant the longer the story goes on.
All in all, it was a good book that I think many middle-grade readers would enjoy. I would just be looking for more depth in the plot and characters, but overall a great read.
Thank you to Lois Lowry, Clarion Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
June 19, 2026
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
When I first saw that Lois Lowry had a soon-to-be-published book, I was thrilled. The Giver Quartet is a series that has greatly shaped my life as a reader; I am inherently drawn to mysterious tales with just the right balance of fear and drama. Building 903 was no exception. It starts off strong as the reader follows Tessa, a young twin in a futuristic world, as she navigates the world she has always known (one markedly different from the one we experience today). She is about to say goodbye to her beloved elderly neighbor, spends time with her dear friends, and misses her twin brother Theo, who has mysteriously disappeared. Throughout the story, we learn more about how Tessa's world operates, and the reader can sense reflections of our current world, as well as the cataclysmic consequences of what COULD happen. We learn more about her family dynamics, the type of girl Tessa is, and what it takes to survive this world - together.
I like how this story developed and (mostly) how it wrapped up. I felt like the first 2/3 of the story was slow and had a lot of buildup toward the plot's crescendo. After that, it sort of tapered off quickly and abruptly. It was one of those reads where you see how many pages you have left, and wonder, "How will the author wrap this up so quickly?" Lo and behold, Lowry did wrap it up quickly but not necessarily tidily. I still have a lot of questions and am rather unsatisfied with the "solution" for Theo's situation. I think that a reader's toes were dipped in this story, but the waters remained quite shallow. THAT BEING SAID, I'm hoping that this means Lowry left some room for continuation of the story. Perhaps a new Quartet is on the table?
Regardless, I enjoyed this voyage back into Lowry's version of youthful dystopian nostalgia. I kept picking up the book and reading, which, to me, is always a sign of a compelling read. I'll be seeing her speak at the ALA Conference in Chicago next week, and I am really looking forward to what she says about this book, her view on the country's current state of affairs, and how she continues to be inspired to write such thought-provoking stories.
When I first saw that Lois Lowry had a soon-to-be-published book, I was thrilled. The Giver Quartet is a series that has greatly shaped my life as a reader; I am inherently drawn to mysterious tales with just the right balance of fear and drama. Building 903 was no exception. It starts off strong as the reader follows Tessa, a young twin in a futuristic world, as she navigates the world she has always known (one markedly different from the one we experience today). She is about to say goodbye to her beloved elderly neighbor, spends time with her dear friends, and misses her twin brother Theo, who has mysteriously disappeared. Throughout the story, we learn more about how Tessa's world operates, and the reader can sense reflections of our current world, as well as the cataclysmic consequences of what COULD happen. We learn more about her family dynamics, the type of girl Tessa is, and what it takes to survive this world - together.
I like how this story developed and (mostly) how it wrapped up. I felt like the first 2/3 of the story was slow and had a lot of buildup toward the plot's crescendo. After that, it sort of tapered off quickly and abruptly. It was one of those reads where you see how many pages you have left, and wonder, "How will the author wrap this up so quickly?" Lo and behold, Lowry did wrap it up quickly but not necessarily tidily. I still have a lot of questions and am rather unsatisfied with the "solution" for Theo's situation. I think that a reader's toes were dipped in this story, but the waters remained quite shallow. THAT BEING SAID, I'm hoping that this means Lowry left some room for continuation of the story. Perhaps a new Quartet is on the table?
Regardless, I enjoyed this voyage back into Lowry's version of youthful dystopian nostalgia. I kept picking up the book and reading, which, to me, is always a sign of a compelling read. I'll be seeing her speak at the ALA Conference in Chicago next week, and I am really looking forward to what she says about this book, her view on the country's current state of affairs, and how she continues to be inspired to write such thought-provoking stories.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Okay- I read the negative reviews of this book after I finished. I think adults were hoping for some sort "greater" The Giver. I don't think Lowry set out to do this in this book; nor do I think she could ever re-create such an iconic story set in a different time with different dystopian regulations.
That being said- I was in sixth grade when The Giver was published and won a Newbery. I remember myself grappling with all I had just read as a young adolescent.
I just finished Building 903 with no expectations other than this was a new dystopian novel set in the future. It delivered. The plot and the characters and the challenges are completely different and I would certainly hope so. I've heard Lowry deliver speeches more than once and it would be uncharacteristic of her to replicate what she's done.
Instead, she manages to develop a future with a new leader; new rules; new uncertainties; new personalities; new characters all struggling to grapple with what's been taken away from them and what they have.
I believe the readers of this generation will pick up this book and do with it much like I did when I read The Giver all those years go- Grapple with exactly what led to the situations outlined in the book and try to understand how a population allowed themselves to propel into such a grim reality- and then, take into account all that we have that power could one day take away under the wrong hands. And then, guard and protect it.
This book is not a warning; not a scary map for where we may be headed; but rather, a call for readers to inventory those things which make us thrive as humans, and feel a sense of protection for them should they ever fall into a place of extinction or being banned.
It leaves readers a lot to chew on and consider, and a major point in the plot made me gasp. Lowry is doing that which we've trusted her to do for so many years now- allow us to wrestle with what we have, don't have, and consider those things which keep us thriving as humans and a healthy society.
Bravo that she is still developing scenarios and plots and characters facing these situations all these years later. I will most certainly read whatever she writes next.
That being said- I was in sixth grade when The Giver was published and won a Newbery. I remember myself grappling with all I had just read as a young adolescent.
I just finished Building 903 with no expectations other than this was a new dystopian novel set in the future. It delivered. The plot and the characters and the challenges are completely different and I would certainly hope so. I've heard Lowry deliver speeches more than once and it would be uncharacteristic of her to replicate what she's done.
Instead, she manages to develop a future with a new leader; new rules; new uncertainties; new personalities; new characters all struggling to grapple with what's been taken away from them and what they have.
I believe the readers of this generation will pick up this book and do with it much like I did when I read The Giver all those years go- Grapple with exactly what led to the situations outlined in the book and try to understand how a population allowed themselves to propel into such a grim reality- and then, take into account all that we have that power could one day take away under the wrong hands. And then, guard and protect it.
This book is not a warning; not a scary map for where we may be headed; but rather, a call for readers to inventory those things which make us thrive as humans, and feel a sense of protection for them should they ever fall into a place of extinction or being banned.
It leaves readers a lot to chew on and consider, and a major point in the plot made me gasp. Lowry is doing that which we've trusted her to do for so many years now- allow us to wrestle with what we have, don't have, and consider those things which keep us thriving as humans and a healthy society.
Bravo that she is still developing scenarios and plots and characters facing these situations all these years later. I will most certainly read whatever she writes next.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
There’s a quiet kind of magic in this story that pulled me in right away — the unmistakable, soul‑deep magic that only Lois Lowry can conjure. As a lifelong admirer of her work, I felt that familiar spark the moment I stepped into Tessa and Theo’s world. Lowry has always understood how to take something as simple as a question — What if? — and turn it into a doorway. In Building 903, she hands us the key.
This book feels like a return to the resonant, truth‑seeking space of The Giver, yet it stands entirely on its own. Lowry explores censorship, comfort, and complicity with her signature clarity, but what struck me most was the way she honors imagination itself. In this story, imagination isn’t a luxury — it’s rebellion, it’s survival, it’s the spark that makes us human.
Tessa’s journey to find her twin brother is gripping, but it’s the discovery of books — real books, forbidden books — that made my heart ache in the best way. Lowry captures the radical tenderness of reading: how stories open portals, how they shape us, how they remind us of who we are and who we could be. As someone who grew up on Lowry’s stories and now shares that love with my own children, this theme hit home. Books have always been our family’s magic, our comfort, our compass. Building 903 feels like a love letter to that truth.
Miriam, the 135‑year‑old neighbor who slips Tessa the key, is one of those unforgettable Lowry characters — the kind who lingers long after the last page. And the world she reveals is both chilling and hopeful, a reminder that even in the darkest systems, imagination can crack the walls.
Lowry’s writing is as sharp and luminous as ever. She doesn’t shout; she whispers. And somehow, that whisper shakes the whole world.
For longtime fans, Building 903 feels like coming home to the kind of storytelling that shaped us. For new readers, it’s a powerful invitation into the radical, transformative wonder of books. For families like mine — who believe reading together is its own kind of revolution — this story is a treasure.
A profound, timely, beautifully crafted novel. Lowry’s legacy continues to shine.
This book feels like a return to the resonant, truth‑seeking space of The Giver, yet it stands entirely on its own. Lowry explores censorship, comfort, and complicity with her signature clarity, but what struck me most was the way she honors imagination itself. In this story, imagination isn’t a luxury — it’s rebellion, it’s survival, it’s the spark that makes us human.
Tessa’s journey to find her twin brother is gripping, but it’s the discovery of books — real books, forbidden books — that made my heart ache in the best way. Lowry captures the radical tenderness of reading: how stories open portals, how they shape us, how they remind us of who we are and who we could be. As someone who grew up on Lowry’s stories and now shares that love with my own children, this theme hit home. Books have always been our family’s magic, our comfort, our compass. Building 903 feels like a love letter to that truth.
Miriam, the 135‑year‑old neighbor who slips Tessa the key, is one of those unforgettable Lowry characters — the kind who lingers long after the last page. And the world she reveals is both chilling and hopeful, a reminder that even in the darkest systems, imagination can crack the walls.
Lowry’s writing is as sharp and luminous as ever. She doesn’t shout; she whispers. And somehow, that whisper shakes the whole world.
For longtime fans, Building 903 feels like coming home to the kind of storytelling that shaped us. For new readers, it’s a powerful invitation into the radical, transformative wonder of books. For families like mine — who believe reading together is its own kind of revolution — this story is a treasure.
A profound, timely, beautifully crafted novel. Lowry’s legacy continues to shine.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Review of ARC received by NetGalley.
In Building 903, Lowry revisits a dystopian future similar to the world she built in The Giver and yet this is a completely different story. It has a little bit of a short story feel. I personally felt that it was a very pointed way of envisioning a world in which a power hungry leader dictates how he wants society to look, refuses to let go of his power, and leads the people into a world of same-ness, void of imagination and differences. No holidays, no different religions, no books, no elections, no pets; it’s a bland world with routine and assigned roles for each citizen.
The book centers around a family of four. Tessa is the twin sister of Theo, who mysteriously disappeared and was even erased from government documentation. None of them understands why and it has deeply affected them in their own ways. Their neighbor, Miriam, is being moved into elder care and on her way out gives Tessa some information that could help solve the mystery. In a moment of true delight for me, we finally have a middle grade novel in which the parents and main character then work together to figure out how to solve the conflict. I enjoy the pre-teen hero we so often see very much, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to see a character grapple with the truth with loving parents!
This truly felt like a middle grade novel in its purest form, the structure was very simple and straightforward but provided a beautiful insight into what imagination and story are, even to the core of how story affects the brain. In fact, that felt like the true aim of the book. It wasn’t really about this family, as much as being the vehicle for her to address the targeting of literature going on in the US right now. Lowry shows how much the absence of imagination can rob us of meaning. She also shines a needed light on those who would rob others of the gift of life and freedom as they go on living however they want.
Teachers, librarians, the quotes on story and imagination could be good tools in teaching visualization and inference. I made some highlights that I’d like to revisit for lessons!
In Building 903, Lowry revisits a dystopian future similar to the world she built in The Giver and yet this is a completely different story. It has a little bit of a short story feel. I personally felt that it was a very pointed way of envisioning a world in which a power hungry leader dictates how he wants society to look, refuses to let go of his power, and leads the people into a world of same-ness, void of imagination and differences. No holidays, no different religions, no books, no elections, no pets; it’s a bland world with routine and assigned roles for each citizen.
The book centers around a family of four. Tessa is the twin sister of Theo, who mysteriously disappeared and was even erased from government documentation. None of them understands why and it has deeply affected them in their own ways. Their neighbor, Miriam, is being moved into elder care and on her way out gives Tessa some information that could help solve the mystery. In a moment of true delight for me, we finally have a middle grade novel in which the parents and main character then work together to figure out how to solve the conflict. I enjoy the pre-teen hero we so often see very much, don’t get me wrong, but it’s nice to see a character grapple with the truth with loving parents!
This truly felt like a middle grade novel in its purest form, the structure was very simple and straightforward but provided a beautiful insight into what imagination and story are, even to the core of how story affects the brain. In fact, that felt like the true aim of the book. It wasn’t really about this family, as much as being the vehicle for her to address the targeting of literature going on in the US right now. Lowry shows how much the absence of imagination can rob us of meaning. She also shines a needed light on those who would rob others of the gift of life and freedom as they go on living however they want.
Teachers, librarians, the quotes on story and imagination could be good tools in teaching visualization and inference. I made some highlights that I’d like to revisit for lessons!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
What worked:
The author is a master of writing dystopian novels for middle-grade readers. In this setting, the government controls everything, and citizens are afraid to say anything against the president. He has ruled for decades, and no one opposes him during elections. Animals have been eliminated from the planet, and Tessa’s pet “dog” is robotic. No religions are allowed, so the characters don’t know the meanings of prayers or the bible. All books have been banned because they spread dangerous ideas. Anyhow, fiction books are untrue, so why would anyone want to read about lies? Possessing books is against the law, and their presence in Tessa’s house creates drama.
Tessa was born a twin, but her brother Theo isn’t around anymore. Readers will wonder what’s happened to him, and investigators don’t know why he went missing. The government doesn’t like leaving Theo’s disappearance unsolved, so they’ve erased all records that he ever existed. The family doesn’t speak about him, but Tessa constantly keeps his memory in her thoughts. However, passages from Theo’s point of view pop up in the narrative, so readers know he still exists somewhere. The first passages describe him on a sailing ship, but readers will be puzzled by this new information. What happened to Theo, and what does their former neighbor know about it?
What didn’t work as well:
The book is mostly dystopian science fiction, but the absence of Theo inexplicably shifts it into the genre of speculative fiction. Tessa’s father tries to explain Theo’s disappearance, and it makes scientific sense up to a point. The moment Theo vanishes takes the story into speculative fiction because it lacks a logical, scientific basis.
The final verdict:
It’s always fun to see how authors foresee possible futures for the world, and this book takes current societal issues and makes them obsolete. It will have readers comparing and contrasting their lives with events in the story. Overall, I recommend you give this book a shot!
The author is a master of writing dystopian novels for middle-grade readers. In this setting, the government controls everything, and citizens are afraid to say anything against the president. He has ruled for decades, and no one opposes him during elections. Animals have been eliminated from the planet, and Tessa’s pet “dog” is robotic. No religions are allowed, so the characters don’t know the meanings of prayers or the bible. All books have been banned because they spread dangerous ideas. Anyhow, fiction books are untrue, so why would anyone want to read about lies? Possessing books is against the law, and their presence in Tessa’s house creates drama.
Tessa was born a twin, but her brother Theo isn’t around anymore. Readers will wonder what’s happened to him, and investigators don’t know why he went missing. The government doesn’t like leaving Theo’s disappearance unsolved, so they’ve erased all records that he ever existed. The family doesn’t speak about him, but Tessa constantly keeps his memory in her thoughts. However, passages from Theo’s point of view pop up in the narrative, so readers know he still exists somewhere. The first passages describe him on a sailing ship, but readers will be puzzled by this new information. What happened to Theo, and what does their former neighbor know about it?
What didn’t work as well:
The book is mostly dystopian science fiction, but the absence of Theo inexplicably shifts it into the genre of speculative fiction. Tessa’s father tries to explain Theo’s disappearance, and it makes scientific sense up to a point. The moment Theo vanishes takes the story into speculative fiction because it lacks a logical, scientific basis.
The final verdict:
It’s always fun to see how authors foresee possible futures for the world, and this book takes current societal issues and makes them obsolete. It will have readers comparing and contrasting their lives with events in the story. Overall, I recommend you give this book a shot!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I LOVED The Giver, so when I saw that Lois Lowry had a new book coming out, I knew I had to get my hands on it.
This story started out super strong. I love Lowry's writing so much. Her prose has a rhythmic, precise, beautiful quality that is not typical for middle grade novels published nowadays. The story is an interesting turn from the world of the Giver. It's quite similar in themes, but scaled back. Tessa's world still has color, and choices, and memories of a different time, but it lacks one specific thing: stories.
When I started reading it, part of me instantly thought, "Well, this isn't realistic. Lots of people love to read." But then I remembered how many people don't love to read. How much less people read than in the past, how many books sit on shelves untouched. Certainly we don't live in the world this book describes yet, but it is a chilling reminder of how valuable books truly are.
The only slight low point for me was the ending. It all just felt a little jumbled, a little confusing. A character ends up getting back from a different world through "prayer," but I'm not really sure what Lowry, as an agnostic, meant by that. I don't feel like it was explained enough.
Despite a few small complaints, I really did enjoy the book all the way through, and it gave me a lot to think about and ponder. One of my favorite elements were the different books (all of which I've read), that were included throughout. Especially my all-time favorite book, Little Women. Hearing the iconic first lines quoted was so happy for me, and gave me a real appreciation for how reading a book for the first time would feel: fascinating, addictive, a little scary. It would feel like being seen in a new way. Those were some of my favorite moments in the entire book.🥰
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC. It was an amazing experience!
This story started out super strong. I love Lowry's writing so much. Her prose has a rhythmic, precise, beautiful quality that is not typical for middle grade novels published nowadays. The story is an interesting turn from the world of the Giver. It's quite similar in themes, but scaled back. Tessa's world still has color, and choices, and memories of a different time, but it lacks one specific thing: stories.
When I started reading it, part of me instantly thought, "Well, this isn't realistic. Lots of people love to read." But then I remembered how many people don't love to read. How much less people read than in the past, how many books sit on shelves untouched. Certainly we don't live in the world this book describes yet, but it is a chilling reminder of how valuable books truly are.
The only slight low point for me was the ending. It all just felt a little jumbled, a little confusing. A character ends up getting back from a different world through "prayer," but I'm not really sure what Lowry, as an agnostic, meant by that. I don't feel like it was explained enough.
Despite a few small complaints, I really did enjoy the book all the way through, and it gave me a lot to think about and ponder. One of my favorite elements were the different books (all of which I've read), that were included throughout. Especially my all-time favorite book, Little Women. Hearing the iconic first lines quoted was so happy for me, and gave me a real appreciation for how reading a book for the first time would feel: fascinating, addictive, a little scary. It would feel like being seen in a new way. Those were some of my favorite moments in the entire book.🥰
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC. It was an amazing experience!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
First, I was incredibly excited to receive this ARC. The Giver was one of my favorite books when I was younger and part of the reason I fell in love with reading as a child.
I LOVED THIS CONCEPT IDEA! The idea that a kid gets literally lost in a book? Sign me up. Lost in a book where books are banned? I'M SAT. I enjoyed the story aspect of the book a lot, and my thought was that it is supposed to be the same age ranger as The Giver. With that being said, at the end of the story I found myself wanting MORE. I wished it was a little more in depth. I know this is for the age range of middle grade but it felt a little younger and like it could have been fleshed out just a little bit more.
The characters in this story felt a little flat to me. I felt as if we didn't get enough time with the characters to really connect and become emotionally invested into their story and conflict. I did love the connection between Tessa and Theo, the secret language being a major part of the story really showed the depth of their relationship.
Now, the resolution of the central conflict just didn't hit for me like I hoped. Without giving anything away, it felt quick and almost too easy. I know this book is meant for a younger audience but this ending feels like a disservice to the story and to the reader. I would have also loved to see more of Theo's journey! Again, I know this book is for a younger audience and has to be smaller, but I think I wish this was an adult dystopian novel with a more fully fleshed world and story line.
Overall, I’d give this a 3.5. I had a hard time putting it down and was thoroughly hooked through the entire story. I would 100% recommend this to a middle grade reader. It's a great addition to the dystopian genre in an accessible way for kids to see the dangers what could happen.
Thank you HarperCollins and Clarion for this Netgalley ARC!
I LOVED THIS CONCEPT IDEA! The idea that a kid gets literally lost in a book? Sign me up. Lost in a book where books are banned? I'M SAT. I enjoyed the story aspect of the book a lot, and my thought was that it is supposed to be the same age ranger as The Giver. With that being said, at the end of the story I found myself wanting MORE. I wished it was a little more in depth. I know this is for the age range of middle grade but it felt a little younger and like it could have been fleshed out just a little bit more.
The characters in this story felt a little flat to me. I felt as if we didn't get enough time with the characters to really connect and become emotionally invested into their story and conflict. I did love the connection between Tessa and Theo, the secret language being a major part of the story really showed the depth of their relationship.
Now, the resolution of the central conflict just didn't hit for me like I hoped. Without giving anything away, it felt quick and almost too easy. I know this book is meant for a younger audience but this ending feels like a disservice to the story and to the reader. I would have also loved to see more of Theo's journey! Again, I know this book is for a younger audience and has to be smaller, but I think I wish this was an adult dystopian novel with a more fully fleshed world and story line.
Overall, I’d give this a 3.5. I had a hard time putting it down and was thoroughly hooked through the entire story. I would 100% recommend this to a middle grade reader. It's a great addition to the dystopian genre in an accessible way for kids to see the dangers what could happen.
Thank you HarperCollins and Clarion for this Netgalley ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In her upcoming novel ‘Building 903’ Lowery once again teases loose a thread of thought and weaves a story that leads the reader into a world where ‘story’ is an unknown word and imagination is unimaginable. You should, of course, read it the minute it becomes available and then you should share it with the people in your life that you like to talk over ideas with. And then you should read it again.
I saw Lois Lowery speak on the campus of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, what feels like a lifetime ago —1998? Maybe 1999. Before kids. I went with my now husband, (we had just met) and we sat earnestly listening to Lowery speak about The Giver and her life as a writer for children. I believe this tour was at the time of her ‘Looking Back” Autobiography and I of course left with hard back editions of it, The Giver and others to add to my own personal ‘Building 903”. Those were eventually read by my children who are now almost ‘too grown’ for children’s books, but still can be convinced to read a Lois Lowery novel at my urging.
They continue to read them and I continue to recommend them because Lois Lowery writes novels for children about ideas and concepts that children are interested in, but are often left out of deeper conversations when talking with young people. They enable earnest adult conversations as well. I’ve always felt that Lowery’s books served as a bridge between my adult perceptions and those of my children, and others’. They have given me a starting point to have thematically complex conversations with friends and family. And it is this gift of communication and perspective that I value most in Lowery’s work. Building 903 has been no different. I’m thinking now about the joy of losing oneself in an amazing story.
I received an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I saw Lois Lowery speak on the campus of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, what feels like a lifetime ago —1998? Maybe 1999. Before kids. I went with my now husband, (we had just met) and we sat earnestly listening to Lowery speak about The Giver and her life as a writer for children. I believe this tour was at the time of her ‘Looking Back” Autobiography and I of course left with hard back editions of it, The Giver and others to add to my own personal ‘Building 903”. Those were eventually read by my children who are now almost ‘too grown’ for children’s books, but still can be convinced to read a Lois Lowery novel at my urging.
They continue to read them and I continue to recommend them because Lois Lowery writes novels for children about ideas and concepts that children are interested in, but are often left out of deeper conversations when talking with young people. They enable earnest adult conversations as well. I’ve always felt that Lowery’s books served as a bridge between my adult perceptions and those of my children, and others’. They have given me a starting point to have thematically complex conversations with friends and family. And it is this gift of communication and perspective that I value most in Lowery’s work. Building 903 has been no different. I’m thinking now about the joy of losing oneself in an amazing story.
I received an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Many thanks to NetGalley, Clarion Books, and Lois Lowry for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5
I dropped everything to read this the moment I was approved. Lois Lowry’s The Giver was such a defining read for me growing up, and I was so excited to experience something that felt like a return to that world—something I could eventually share with my kids. Unfortunately, this one left me a bit disappointed.
It starts off really strong. The dystopian world-building is unique and, at times, a little unsettling in how it mirrors things that could feel a bit too close to reality. The first half does a great job setting up Tessa’s story, her search for her brother Theo, and a world stripped of imagination.
But the second half is where it lost me.
Everything begins to feel rushed, and a lot of the tension just… disappears. Once certain reveals happen, there’s very little sense of urgency or stakes. Building 903 is built up to be this major, ominous element, and it barely feels explored. There was so much potential there that just wasn’t fully realized. And then the ending felt abrupt, like everything suddenly shifts into, “there’s an uprising and things will be fixed,” without the buildup or depth needed to make it feel earned.
I did try to keep in mind that this is a middle-grade book and not written for me as an adult reader. That said, I still found myself wanting more- more depth, more development, more payoff- something!
Overall, the bones of the story are strong, and there’s a really compelling idea at its core. It just didn’t fully stick the landing for me. However, I still want to share it with my kids, as I think there are some good lessons to be learned from it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5
I dropped everything to read this the moment I was approved. Lois Lowry’s The Giver was such a defining read for me growing up, and I was so excited to experience something that felt like a return to that world—something I could eventually share with my kids. Unfortunately, this one left me a bit disappointed.
It starts off really strong. The dystopian world-building is unique and, at times, a little unsettling in how it mirrors things that could feel a bit too close to reality. The first half does a great job setting up Tessa’s story, her search for her brother Theo, and a world stripped of imagination.
But the second half is where it lost me.
Everything begins to feel rushed, and a lot of the tension just… disappears. Once certain reveals happen, there’s very little sense of urgency or stakes. Building 903 is built up to be this major, ominous element, and it barely feels explored. There was so much potential there that just wasn’t fully realized. And then the ending felt abrupt, like everything suddenly shifts into, “there’s an uprising and things will be fixed,” without the buildup or depth needed to make it feel earned.
I did try to keep in mind that this is a middle-grade book and not written for me as an adult reader. That said, I still found myself wanting more- more depth, more development, more payoff- something!
Overall, the bones of the story are strong, and there’s a really compelling idea at its core. It just didn’t fully stick the landing for me. However, I still want to share it with my kids, as I think there are some good lessons to be learned from it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As a big fan of ‘The Giver’ series, I was looking forward to reading an advanced copy of Lois Lowry’s newest book. Unfortunately I found myself very disappointed. ‘Building 903’ doesn’t quite live up to the polish and quality of ‘The Giver’. This is a review of an advanced copy, so it is possible this just needs a few more passes with an editor. But I found the writing to be quite YA, in a way where I felt that the audience was being explained to and dialogue was being relied on for exposition. This is also more near future, so while some things are a little sci-fi, others seem almost too close to current day. It’s basically a North Korean world but with robot dogs, which is exactly as disjointed as it sounds.
Theme wise, I thought this book was quite simple. Books (along with many other things) are banned, and finding books leads to some plot. It’s been done before, and done better. I’m not convinced this brings anything new to the table. It also has this weird choice to make both the main male characters in this book super geniuses, and it feels like the two female characters are treated as superfluous even though one of them is literally the narrator.
Ultimately this lacked the charm of ‘The Giver’ series. Post future magical realism is what I thought Lowry excelled in. 4 books in a series that all work for me? I thought this would for sure be a shoe in. Instead I got a kind of messy book that will probably work for middle schoolers.
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. I’m hopeful this book will improve before its release date this September. As of now, this is a 2.5 star read for me. I got nothing out of it, I felt the writing was subpar for what I know this author can do with middle grade, and I was really hoping for more.
Theme wise, I thought this book was quite simple. Books (along with many other things) are banned, and finding books leads to some plot. It’s been done before, and done better. I’m not convinced this brings anything new to the table. It also has this weird choice to make both the main male characters in this book super geniuses, and it feels like the two female characters are treated as superfluous even though one of them is literally the narrator.
Ultimately this lacked the charm of ‘The Giver’ series. Post future magical realism is what I thought Lowry excelled in. 4 books in a series that all work for me? I thought this would for sure be a shoe in. Instead I got a kind of messy book that will probably work for middle schoolers.
Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. I’m hopeful this book will improve before its release date this September. As of now, this is a 2.5 star read for me. I got nothing out of it, I felt the writing was subpar for what I know this author can do with middle grade, and I was really hoping for more.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Building 903 is a youthful audience based Dystopian novel written by Lois Lowry, set to release on September 29th, 2026. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH NETGALLEY AND HARPERCOLLINS CHILDRENS BOOKS FOR THIS ARC. When I was a young girl, I read Number the Stars and it blew me away. Then I read The Giver and that also blew me away. Wanna guess what this novel did? Go ahead. IT BLEW ME AWAY, CORRECT. (Theme wise) It did an astounding job at showing how humanity lacks purpose as the days grow long. We favor convenience over the struggle of getting things right after the tenseness of failure. Where is the satisfaction of progression? And that, my friends, is at the core of this book. What if everything we are familiar with now, becomes obsolete in just one short generation? Technology is taking over. Not in the apocalyptic robotic sense, but in the sense that we use it more often than not. This book shows how screens and probability envelope our whole beings. The parental figures in this novel however, wore me down. I felt as though the youth could never get a word in. The family connection in this was not believable in actions to me based on the words that were being thrown around; chaotic I would say. It seemed somewhat wrong to condense the imagination accumulated to reading in such a scientific way. I also wish the Autistic representation used in the book was through a more compassionate lens from the other characters' perspectives, but the author may have done that on purpose to expose how others treat people of the Spectrum. I appreciate adding the Spectrum into the book regardless though. But overall, books about books are great. This one was too short and left me discontented. 3 ⭐
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