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Anastasia Krupnik #9
Anastasia, Absolutely: A Page-Turning Middle Grade Story About Moral Dilemmas and Integrity for Children (Ages 10-12)
“As usual, Lowry delivers tight, page-turning prose, plenty of humor, and characters right out of readers' neighborhoods.”— Kirkus Reviews
What could possibly go wrong when Anastasia Krupnik walks to a mailbox early one morning with two packages and a dog? A mail mix-up of a most embarrassing kind. Instead of mailing the letter, she deposits her dog’s morning business! As her school “Values” class debates moral issues and the local police confiscate the corner mailbox, Anastasia faces a dilemma of her own. Should she confess? What is the right thing to do? With her characteristic integrity and humor, Anastasia weighs her options.
What could possibly go wrong when Anastasia Krupnik walks to a mailbox early one morning with two packages and a dog? A mail mix-up of a most embarrassing kind. Instead of mailing the letter, she deposits her dog’s morning business! As her school “Values” class debates moral issues and the local police confiscate the corner mailbox, Anastasia faces a dilemma of her own. Should she confess? What is the right thing to do? With her characteristic integrity and humor, Anastasia weighs her options.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
44 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
About the author
Lois Lowry
143 books22.8k 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
March 10, 2024
This is the final book in the Anastasia series, and I’ve decided to use this space to rate and review the series as a whole. Although I haven’t rated any of the individual books 5*, if I were to make a compilation of the best bits across the whole series it would be a very 5-star compilation.
Anastasia applies her feelings and growing personal experiences to every school project she has, and this allows her learning to have depth. In Anastasia Has the Answers, she develops her own sense of taste, deciding she loves the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem learnt in English, despite her poet father describing it as ''sentimental garbage''. Whilst Anastasia’s teacher wants her to ‘fling out her arms’ during a recital of the poem, this doesn’t feel natural to her so she refuses, but eventually in a wave of passion she feels the poem fully and throws her arms out without thinking…unfortunately she happens to be suspended in the air holding a rope at the time.
In this volume, Anastasia Absolutely, Anastasia engages deeply with her Ethics homework because she happens to be going through an ethical dilemma of her own. After accidentally depositing a bag of dog-poop into her local post-box, and seeing police patrolling the area the next day, she grapples with whether she deserves to be punished. The experience allows Anastasia to apply curiosity and mercy to the many ethical dilemmas she is asked to ponder at school. When she coincidentally helps solve a true local crime, we realise that you can’t take an ethical problem at face value and are subtly encouraged to think broadly without jumping to conclusions.
Having read all nine books in this series, I’ve enjoyed watching Anastasia grow. At ten she's a strong willed and sometimes prejudiced child, then as she grows she becomes what she calls ‘wishy-washy’ but is mostly thoughtful and open to changing her mind. As she matures, Anastasia realises just how little she really knows and is therefore more willing to listen and learn from others. I think Anastasia would go through a militant phase in her late teens, and then learn to pick her battles and be patient with people who think differently to her again as she heads into her late twenties and thirties.
There are two scenes in this series that really get me. One is in Anastasia at Your Service. In this, Anastasia is gutted to be hired as one of rich Mrs Bellingham’s maids, when she had wanted to be the lady’s glamorous companion. Along with her troubled friend Daphne who is Mrs Bellingham’s granddaughter, Anastasia concocts a plan of vengeance to invite everyone the older lady seems to look down on to the next big society party at Mrs Bellingham’s estate. When the group of addicts, homeless people and patients recently discharged from a mental health facility arrive at the ‘do’ however, Anastasia and Daphne wish to uninvite them in a moment of repentance, when they realise the party is in aid of a children’s’ hospital where Anastasia’s brother Sam is being treated. The girls find, though, that they can’t tell these guests apart from the other 'high society' ones. In fact the man who is heavily drinking alone is the local surgeon, and the guy with his buttons done up wrong who keeps rambling is the mayor. I most love Mrs Bellingham’s response to her granddaughter’s confession, when she says ''surely it is apparent by now that those people, whatever their problems, know how to behave at a party. Which is more than I can say for you at the moment.’’ Anastasia learns to be humble and open-minded. Her prejudices are unpicked from a deeper place than they would if she hadn't had experiences and made mistakes
Anastasia’s Chosen Career has the scene I find the most emotional. When Helen Margaret, a girl who has been silent, depressed, and isolated during the whole week-long modelling course ultimately has a panic attack and runs away, Robert Giannini finds her and through his own honesty encourages her to open-up to the class. It is Robert’s openness about seeing a psychiatrist for his childhood bed-wetting that allows Helen Margaret to share her story and feel heard. Anastasia’s initial reluctance to engage with vulnerability, and her transition towards letting her guard down is touching and so true to those initial years as a teenager. Anastasia looks around the class at first, hoping to catch someone’s eye and laugh about Robert Giannini’s bed wetting.
If Anastasia was always the star of the show or the kindest and most understanding person in the room, we wouldn’t relate, and the stories would fall flat. I think we all love Anastasia in the way that we love Anne Shirley (of Green Gables). Both girls are imperfect and give young women permission to try and fail at everything life throws at them over and over without shame.
Lois Lowry’s Anastasia books all capture, so well, the weirdness of growing up: the bizarre expectations disappointments and humiliations, the naive decisions and awkward mistakes, those moments when you teeter on the edge of danger, the self-absorbed fantasies and vanities, the trimmings of pop-culture that you cling to for an identity, the fixations and whimsies, the self-consciousness and judgement of others, the realisation that you’re wonderful and awful and completely dull and normal. These books are so flawed and so great and the thirteen-year-old girl in me is grateful.
Anastasia applies her feelings and growing personal experiences to every school project she has, and this allows her learning to have depth. In Anastasia Has the Answers, she develops her own sense of taste, deciding she loves the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem learnt in English, despite her poet father describing it as ''sentimental garbage''. Whilst Anastasia’s teacher wants her to ‘fling out her arms’ during a recital of the poem, this doesn’t feel natural to her so she refuses, but eventually in a wave of passion she feels the poem fully and throws her arms out without thinking…unfortunately she happens to be suspended in the air holding a rope at the time.
In this volume, Anastasia Absolutely, Anastasia engages deeply with her Ethics homework because she happens to be going through an ethical dilemma of her own. After accidentally depositing a bag of dog-poop into her local post-box, and seeing police patrolling the area the next day, she grapples with whether she deserves to be punished. The experience allows Anastasia to apply curiosity and mercy to the many ethical dilemmas she is asked to ponder at school. When she coincidentally helps solve a true local crime, we realise that you can’t take an ethical problem at face value and are subtly encouraged to think broadly without jumping to conclusions.
Having read all nine books in this series, I’ve enjoyed watching Anastasia grow. At ten she's a strong willed and sometimes prejudiced child, then as she grows she becomes what she calls ‘wishy-washy’ but is mostly thoughtful and open to changing her mind. As she matures, Anastasia realises just how little she really knows and is therefore more willing to listen and learn from others. I think Anastasia would go through a militant phase in her late teens, and then learn to pick her battles and be patient with people who think differently to her again as she heads into her late twenties and thirties.
There are two scenes in this series that really get me. One is in Anastasia at Your Service. In this, Anastasia is gutted to be hired as one of rich Mrs Bellingham’s maids, when she had wanted to be the lady’s glamorous companion. Along with her troubled friend Daphne who is Mrs Bellingham’s granddaughter, Anastasia concocts a plan of vengeance to invite everyone the older lady seems to look down on to the next big society party at Mrs Bellingham’s estate. When the group of addicts, homeless people and patients recently discharged from a mental health facility arrive at the ‘do’ however, Anastasia and Daphne wish to uninvite them in a moment of repentance, when they realise the party is in aid of a children’s’ hospital where Anastasia’s brother Sam is being treated. The girls find, though, that they can’t tell these guests apart from the other 'high society' ones. In fact the man who is heavily drinking alone is the local surgeon, and the guy with his buttons done up wrong who keeps rambling is the mayor. I most love Mrs Bellingham’s response to her granddaughter’s confession, when she says ''surely it is apparent by now that those people, whatever their problems, know how to behave at a party. Which is more than I can say for you at the moment.’’ Anastasia learns to be humble and open-minded. Her prejudices are unpicked from a deeper place than they would if she hadn't had experiences and made mistakes
Anastasia’s Chosen Career has the scene I find the most emotional. When Helen Margaret, a girl who has been silent, depressed, and isolated during the whole week-long modelling course ultimately has a panic attack and runs away, Robert Giannini finds her and through his own honesty encourages her to open-up to the class. It is Robert’s openness about seeing a psychiatrist for his childhood bed-wetting that allows Helen Margaret to share her story and feel heard. Anastasia’s initial reluctance to engage with vulnerability, and her transition towards letting her guard down is touching and so true to those initial years as a teenager. Anastasia looks around the class at first, hoping to catch someone’s eye and laugh about Robert Giannini’s bed wetting.
Nobody looked embarrassed. They looked understanding. Probably every one of them had had problems at some time, and nobody to tell them to. Anastasia knew that she had for sure.
So, she looked at Robert and listened. She tried to feel sympathetic instead of embarrassed. And after a moment, the embarrassment was gone.
If Anastasia was always the star of the show or the kindest and most understanding person in the room, we wouldn’t relate, and the stories would fall flat. I think we all love Anastasia in the way that we love Anne Shirley (of Green Gables). Both girls are imperfect and give young women permission to try and fail at everything life throws at them over and over without shame.
Lois Lowry’s Anastasia books all capture, so well, the weirdness of growing up: the bizarre expectations disappointments and humiliations, the naive decisions and awkward mistakes, those moments when you teeter on the edge of danger, the self-absorbed fantasies and vanities, the trimmings of pop-culture that you cling to for an identity, the fixations and whimsies, the self-consciousness and judgement of others, the realisation that you’re wonderful and awful and completely dull and normal. These books are so flawed and so great and the thirteen-year-old girl in me is grateful.
June 21, 2012
ANASTASIA GOES TO THE POST OFFICE WITH A PACKAGE FOR HER MOTHER AND DOG FOOD. SHE ACCIDENTLY PLACES THE DOG FOOD IN THE BIN. SO WHEN SHE REALIZES SHE MADE THE MISTAKE ITS ANOTHER PROBLEM FOR HER TO DEAL WITH SHE NEEDS AS MUCH HELP AND LUCK AS SHE CAN GET.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 22, 2022
Huh!?? I'm disappointed because there are no more books! I liked the story, but I'm not satisfied that it ended. I was hoping to follow Anastasia into early adulthood or something. Guess I'll go and read the books about her brother Sam, but… I wanted more!
July 4, 2019
3.5 Stars
Anastasia was as hilarious as usual. This book held some particularly funny moments, and was better than some of the others in the series. Also, Anastasia's parents are amazing!
Anastasia was as hilarious as usual. This book held some particularly funny moments, and was better than some of the others in the series. Also, Anastasia's parents are amazing!
July 23, 2020
Dog doo. Who knew someone could create such an amazing plot around the center of doo from a dog! Fascinating!
March 24, 2020
I remember loving the Anastasia books, and I'd never read this one. Incidentally, I would have been in the same grade as Anastasia (eighth) if I'd read this in 1995. It definitely reads for a younger audience, however.
Unfortunately, this book feels pretty dated. One friend complains that her mother, who used to wear an apron and high heals, now has a crew cut and neck tie. An apron and high heels? Really? This was the 90s, not the 50s.
Then a couple pages later, there's the conversation with her teacher, which really bothered me. "I did a dumb thing... He punished me. I learned. Understand, kiddo?" I think/hope we're trying to find better words than dumb. People seldom learn from punishment. (How about "He made me face the consequences"?) And teachers should not call students "kiddo." Then he goes and says, "I hate to see a pretty girl like you looking so sad all the time." Yikes.
Plot is ridiculous, far-fetched, too convenient (the "values" class coincides with her "crime"). There were a few witty lines.
Unfortunately, this book feels pretty dated. One friend complains that her mother, who used to wear an apron and high heals, now has a crew cut and neck tie. An apron and high heels? Really? This was the 90s, not the 50s.
Then a couple pages later, there's the conversation with her teacher, which really bothered me. "I did a dumb thing... He punished me. I learned. Understand, kiddo?" I think/hope we're trying to find better words than dumb. People seldom learn from punishment. (How about "He made me face the consequences"?) And teachers should not call students "kiddo." Then he goes and says, "I hate to see a pretty girl like you looking so sad all the time." Yikes.
Plot is ridiculous, far-fetched, too convenient (the "values" class coincides with her "crime"). There were a few witty lines.
April 22, 2009
this one didn't come out until late middle school for me, so it doesn't bring back those warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia...maybe that's why i didn't like it that much.
also, it seems strangely preachy for an anastasia book. "always do the right thing" and you might end up a hero!
and why did the spelling of sonya suddenly change to sonja? and what happened to steve harvey? and isn't it pretty sick that one of anastasia's teachers tells her he hates to see such a pretty girl looking so sad?
also, it seems strangely preachy for an anastasia book. "always do the right thing" and you might end up a hero!
and why did the spelling of sonya suddenly change to sonja? and what happened to steve harvey? and isn't it pretty sick that one of anastasia's teachers tells her he hates to see such a pretty girl looking so sad?
August 31, 2007
The one where she puts poop in the mailbox and the bomb squad comes. This one just didn't do anything for me.
December 25, 2023
I remember when Aunt Kathy (Sarah and Lisa's mom) got this book autographed for my birthday!!!!
October 20, 2015
Last book in the series...
That feeling when you finish a really good series and wonder what you're going to do for the rest of your life...
Ah, well, there's still that series about her brother!
That feeling when you finish a really good series and wonder what you're going to do for the rest of your life...
Ah, well, there's still that series about her brother!
March 25, 2023
I like the way that Lois Lowry's middle-grade books about Anastasia Krupnik (who is in eighth grade in this final book in the series) keep the reader's interest by combining multiple plot threads. In this one: 1) Anastasia has just gotten a dog 2) she's taking a Values class at school 3) her dad has jury duty and 4) she makes a mistake that she's worried might have actually been a crime. With the Values class, we see her answers to homework questions like what she would do if she saw a stranger shoplifting, or what she would do if she saw a close friend shoplifting; she and her three best friends also have spirited discussions about their very different responses to those questions. Anastasia worries that she is too "wishy-washy"—and in fact, that maybe her whole family is. (Her dad's jury duty story involves how conflicted he felt, after hearing first from the prosecution and then from the defense.) But as her teacher points out, she's actually "good at examining things, and seeing all the different options," which she should see as a strength rather than a liability. Meanwhile: on her very first early morning walk with her new dog, she accidentally puts a bag of dog poop in a mailbox, rather than the package she meant to mail for her mom. She goes back later that day to see if she can somehow retrieve it, but the mailbox has been removed entirely, which she's sure is because of her "crime." As she wrestles with her feelings of guilt and whether/how to confess, she realizes she's facing a real-life Values dilemma rather than a hypothetical one.
This isn't my favorite of the Anastasia books, but it was nice to re-read it, though there are a few moments that feel very dated, like when Anastasia's friend Daphne talks about reading about "transvestism" in the library, and when Anastasia's teacher says "I hate to see a pretty girl like you looking so sad all the time" and it's presented in the narrative as just a nice/concerned statement, rather than being in any way problematic.
But I love Anastasia's dog, Sleuth, who is described/drawn as looking very much like the dog that appears with Lowry in her author photo. I love passages like this: "The dog, finally, after raising his head at each mention of his name, got up and came over to the table. He sniffed each person's knees as if maybe they had turned edible overnight. Disappointed by the smell of denim, he yawned, went back to his corner, and resumed his disguise as a mop." Or this: "he pranced by her side and surveyed the neighborhood to be sure it hadn't undergone any changes in the night." And I love how Anastasia's mom tries to use Sleuth as a model for the illustrations she's working on for a children's book about a dog, but gets frustrated due to his shagginess, and finally decides she needs to get his hair out of his eyes with plastic barrettes—which Anastasia and her kid brother Sam both find extremely undignified.
This isn't my favorite of the Anastasia books, but it was nice to re-read it, though there are a few moments that feel very dated, like when Anastasia's friend Daphne talks about reading about "transvestism" in the library, and when Anastasia's teacher says "I hate to see a pretty girl like you looking so sad all the time" and it's presented in the narrative as just a nice/concerned statement, rather than being in any way problematic.
But I love Anastasia's dog, Sleuth, who is described/drawn as looking very much like the dog that appears with Lowry in her author photo. I love passages like this: "The dog, finally, after raising his head at each mention of his name, got up and came over to the table. He sniffed each person's knees as if maybe they had turned edible overnight. Disappointed by the smell of denim, he yawned, went back to his corner, and resumed his disguise as a mop." Or this: "he pranced by her side and surveyed the neighborhood to be sure it hadn't undergone any changes in the night." And I love how Anastasia's mom tries to use Sleuth as a model for the illustrations she's working on for a children's book about a dog, but gets frustrated due to his shagginess, and finally decides she needs to get his hair out of his eyes with plastic barrettes—which Anastasia and her kid brother Sam both find extremely undignified.
November 3, 2022
This last Anastasia book is my favorite! The plot was so funny and creative-typical Anastasia. The descriptions of Anastasia and her opinions are always so relatable; and yet they still manage to contribute a major part to the rest of the story (unlike certain books that seem like random puns were just jotted in for the hell of it).
Also-Sleuth was my favorite character by far! He’s hilarious yet serious, intelligent yet goofy, adventurous yet obedient. Another thing I liked was how Lowry decided to make it where Anastasia was basically reading Sleuth’s mind. It was really interesting to see Sleuth’s thoughts! (And the book he supposedly modeled for is so adorable. Anastasia shouldn’t be so disrespectful towards her mom.)
As you can tell, I really enjoyed this book, so you may be wondering why I didn’t just rate it a solid 5. The reason is because two particular things in this book slightly disturbed me. First of all, the incident where Anastasia is describing her Values teacher. She says she always pays attention to what he wears and that he’s the sort of teacher a kid could be friends with. This wouldn’t have been as much of an issue for me if it weren’t for the fact that later on the teacher tells Anastasia that she’s pretty…what is this? Romance between a thirteen year old girl and a Values teacher! That’s very disturbing to me. And I know it might not be meant to be viewed as romance in that way, but still. He calls himself an expert on knowing what is right and what is wrong, yet he finds it perfectly acceptable to flirt with his student? Um…not questionable at all. Anyway, the other complaint I have is that Sonya’s name changed to Sonja. Like, where was I when that happened? I even tried to research an explanation online, but there was nothing. So after realizing those errors, I felt that it would be biased to give out a five star rating to a book that could’ve used that sort of improvement.
This concludes my review. Please comment if you have anything to correct or add on. Thank you!
Also-Sleuth was my favorite character by far! He’s hilarious yet serious, intelligent yet goofy, adventurous yet obedient. Another thing I liked was how Lowry decided to make it where Anastasia was basically reading Sleuth’s mind. It was really interesting to see Sleuth’s thoughts! (And the book he supposedly modeled for is so adorable. Anastasia shouldn’t be so disrespectful towards her mom.)
As you can tell, I really enjoyed this book, so you may be wondering why I didn’t just rate it a solid 5. The reason is because two particular things in this book slightly disturbed me. First of all, the incident where Anastasia is describing her Values teacher. She says she always pays attention to what he wears and that he’s the sort of teacher a kid could be friends with. This wouldn’t have been as much of an issue for me if it weren’t for the fact that later on the teacher tells Anastasia that she’s pretty…what is this? Romance between a thirteen year old girl and a Values teacher! That’s very disturbing to me. And I know it might not be meant to be viewed as romance in that way, but still. He calls himself an expert on knowing what is right and what is wrong, yet he finds it perfectly acceptable to flirt with his student? Um…not questionable at all. Anyway, the other complaint I have is that Sonya’s name changed to Sonja. Like, where was I when that happened? I even tried to research an explanation online, but there was nothing. So after realizing those errors, I felt that it would be biased to give out a five star rating to a book that could’ve used that sort of improvement.
This concludes my review. Please comment if you have anything to correct or add on. Thank you!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2023
I tend to be forgiving of this series because of the nostalgia it holds for me, but this one came out after I was a bot older, and I didn't read it until now (at least not that I recall), so it is easier to bit more objective about it.
This is...not great. I'm probably being generous with three stars. Anastasia catfishes some adult man (who is weird in his letters, anyway) and has a teacher who makes strangely inappropriate remarks. And Anastasia, for whatever her faults, is not stupid, and a major plot point of this story is her making a stupid assumption about her "crime". The takes on feminism are pretty awful, too.
The one thing I really did like was that because she was incapable of black and white thinking, the Values class was really difficult for her. She felt like everyone else was able to easily make this ethical choices while she was being "wishy-washy", when really, being able to see the complexities of a situation is important, and while it can make decisions more difficult, they are usually better decisions.
This is...not great. I'm probably being generous with three stars. Anastasia catfishes some adult man (who is weird in his letters, anyway) and has a teacher who makes strangely inappropriate remarks. And Anastasia, for whatever her faults, is not stupid, and a major plot point of this story is her making a stupid assumption about her "crime". The takes on feminism are pretty awful, too.
The one thing I really did like was that because she was incapable of black and white thinking, the Values class was really difficult for her. She felt like everyone else was able to easily make this ethical choices while she was being "wishy-washy", when really, being able to see the complexities of a situation is important, and while it can make decisions more difficult, they are usually better decisions.
April 16, 2020
Anastasia Krupnik has always wanted a dog, and when her family finally finds one that her father isn’t allergic to, Anastasia agrees that she’ll take care of it if it’s basically considered “her dog”. One of the things that Anastasia has to do is walk the dog, or Sleuth, as they call him, in the mornings. One morning, the first dog-walking morning to be exact, Anastasia was especially sleepy. She isn’t too excited about cleaning up after him, but, as the dog’s owner she knows it’s her responsibility. But what happens when her Mom’s mail get’s placed in the trash, and the bag that contains the dog’s, well, doo doo was put in an official public mailbox. Anastasia tries not to believe that the police that gathered around the mailbox and took it away were there because of her, well, “deposit”. But when the cops show up at her house, she knows that their not just there to say hello. Is Anastasia guilty or innocent? Is she the criminal or the witness? And the greatest question of all, what will happen to her?
February 17, 2021
This one is new to me: I had probably barely aged out of this series when this one was published. Revisiting it now, it still has all the hallmarks of a book I would have loved in my tweenage years, especially the anguish over ridiculous situations.
It seems odd to say it, but there are distinct Importance of Being Earnest vibes here. There’s a bit of Cecily’s melodrama. But what struck me was the Miss Prism element that I have so often experienced myself. Not a baby/manuscript mixup, but a dog poo/illustrations mixup. In the mail. So there’s a good amount of humor here, plus some interesting ethical questions.
A solid story, with brief outdated references to transvestism.
It seems odd to say it, but there are distinct Importance of Being Earnest vibes here. There’s a bit of Cecily’s melodrama. But what struck me was the Miss Prism element that I have so often experienced myself. Not a baby/manuscript mixup, but a dog poo/illustrations mixup. In the mail. So there’s a good amount of humor here, plus some interesting ethical questions.
A solid story, with brief outdated references to transvestism.
February 18, 2018
Anastasia accidentally puts a bag of dog poop in the mail rather than her mother's drawings.
This is the last book of the Anastasia Krupnik series and I enjoyed them all. Anastasia would have been someone I would have been friends with. I like this gentler world where Anastasia is terrified she'll be arrested for mail tampering but still tells the post office what happens because she realizes it's the right thing to do.
This is the last book of the Anastasia Krupnik series and I enjoyed them all. Anastasia would have been someone I would have been friends with. I like this gentler world where Anastasia is terrified she'll be arrested for mail tampering but still tells the post office what happens because she realizes it's the right thing to do.
July 13, 2020
The last Anastasia book! In which our hero drops dog poop in a mailbox and then worry-manifests a police shakedown. Very enjoyable, in spite of some dated language about feminism and "transvestism" that made Isaac keep glancing at me to see if I was going to get offended. We're starting the Sam books (which I didn't know existed!) next.
November 18, 2021
I'm not sure why or how, but Anastacia's lost a bit of her magic. Still, it's a good read.
But give Sam's kitten a name!
Anastasia is walking her new dog and accidentally puts dog poop instead of mail in the postbox. I admit that took a very interesting plot twist.
It's fun and I love Anastasia's relationship with her parents and her friends. She is very relatable.
Also, the dog is adorable.
But give Sam's kitten a name!
Anastasia is walking her new dog and accidentally puts dog poop instead of mail in the postbox. I admit that took a very interesting plot twist.
It's fun and I love Anastasia's relationship with her parents and her friends. She is very relatable.
Also, the dog is adorable.
January 29, 2018
I honestly love all of the Anastasia books. They are funny, and relatable, and real and great.
Written many years after the last installment but still fits right in with the family and characters without missing a beat.
Written many years after the last installment but still fits right in with the family and characters without missing a beat.
March 25, 2020
This is a fun story set in Boston area. Readers could be as young as 4th/5th graders. I enjoyed the challenges Anastasia has with moral value judgements. Everyone should have to weigh the pros and cons of decision that are presented in this book. Good job Lois Lowry!
July 23, 2018
a fairly mundane read about the everyday life and thoughts of a young girl
June 26, 2019
Lowry is a genius and this is one of my favorite literary series, but this one seemed a bit minor league in the long run.
July 24, 2020
Love, love, love, Anastasia!
February 16, 2021
Cerita yang cerdas dan lucu! Begini ya cerita penuh pelajaran (moral) tetapi sama sekali tidak menggurui.
Seandainya pas kecil aku baca buku ini.
Seandainya pas kecil aku baca buku ini.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2021
Mmm, not my favorite in this series. So many charming elements but they didn't fully cohere for me in the way the other books do.
December 7, 2021
Ultimately, I was kind of disappointed in this end to the Anastasia Krupnik series because it didn't feel like an ending. But I do continue to like this series a lot!
January 16, 2024
I think about this book every time I walk my dog and pass a mailbox...
March 12, 2024
Reading these books from my childhood was such a delightful blast from my past.
April 17, 2024
This is a very sad day. I have run out of Anastasia Krupnik books. ☹️
June 29, 2025
La morale de l'histoire est super, très bon livre et lecture facile.
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