Lois Lowry Books in Order
Lois Lowry has written across five decades, and the shelf rests on two Newbery Medals and one accidental trilogy-turned-quartet: Number the Stars (1989), the Danish rescue story, and The Giver (1993), the memory dystopia that - with its three quiet sequels - became the book half of every young-adult dystopia since, including the one with the arrows. The Giver Quartet is now complete and closed, which makes it one of the few series this site maps that will never move again. This page runs the major shelf and sequences the quartet's odd structure (1977–present).
Where to start
The Giver (1993), the door. Number the Stars (1989) if the reader is younger - it is the gentler masterpiece.
The complete list
Tick the boxes off as you read, or for the bookshelf.
| Year | Title | Series / type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | A Summer to Die | debut · standalone | |
| 1989 | Number the Stars | historical — Newbery Medal | |
| 1993 | The Giver | quartet #1 — start here | |
| 2000 | Gathering Blue | quartet #2 — looks separate, is not | |
| 2004 | Messenger | quartet #3 — the worlds join | |
| 2006 | Gossamer | standalone | |
| 2012 | Son | quartet #4 — closes the circle | |
| 2023 | The Windeby Puzzle | standalone — the bog body | |
| 2024 | Tree. Table. Book. | standalone — newest | |
| 2026 | Building 903 | forthcoming Sep 2026 — book banning |
Does the reading order matter?
The Giver Quartet, strict but strange: The Giver (1993) stands alone - Jonas, the Receiver, and the ending people argue about for good reason. Gathering Blue (2000) looks like an unrelated novel about a different wounded society; Messenger (2004) is where the two books turn out to share a world and a character; Son (2012) closes the quartet by going back to the beginning and tying all three storylines together. So: read The Giver first, Gathering Blue second, and do not read about the connective tissue in advance - the reveal is the structure. Number the Stars (1989) is standalone historical, safe anywhere and ideal as a first Lowry. The standalones - A Summer to Die (1977), the debut on a sister's death; Gossamer (2006); The Windeby Puzzle (2023); Tree. Table. Book. (2024) - sit anywhere. Newest of all: Building 903, announced for September 2026, on book banning and the loss of imagination
Which one is the best?
The Giver (1993), the essential one; Number the Stars (1989); Gathering Blue (2000), the underrated second.
Covered in depth here
An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for The Giver.
Related guides
Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: Suzanne Collins books in order, Margaret Atwood books in order, Veronica Roth books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.
Make it a project
Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.
Frequently asked questions
What order should you read Lois Lowry books in?
Giver 1993 → Gathering Blue 2000 → Messenger 2004 → Son 2012; the rest anywhere.
Where should I start with Lois Lowry?
The Giver (1993); Number the Stars (1989) for younger readers.
How many Lois Lowry books are there?
The Giver Quartet (1993-2012, complete) plus Number the Stars (1989) and the standalones across five decades - two Newbery Medals, twelve million copies of The Giver alone, and Building 903 arriving September 2026. As of October 2026 this list is current.
What was Lois Lowry's first book?
A Summer to Die (1977) — the first row of the list above.