Lois Lowry

By the time I reached junior high, after months of The Babysitters’ Club and Sweet Valley High in my last years of elementary school, it was becoming apparent that publishers believed I needed two things: make-up tips and boyfriend advice. Granted, I could have used a little help in both those areas—I still could. But my classmates and I didn’t lack the capacity to appreciate thoughtful literature. Enter The Giver, the tale of a seeming Utopia (aren’t they always only “seeming”) that begins to crumble as the young protagonists get a glimpse of the dark undercurrents supporting the fantasy. Lois Lowry has always treated her young readers as capable thinkers. Her latest series, the adventures of a mismatched and awkward Gooney Bird, skews to a younger audience, but regardless of the subject matter, she is above all a great storyteller. Relive your youth or introduce the tykes in your life to her this afternoon. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 621-2230, www.lectures.org. $18/$9 students. 1 p.m. LAURA ONSTOT
Sat., March 15, 1 p.m., 2008