A Summer to Die

By Lois Lowry

Meg was always annoyed with her sister’s attitude. She was always thinking that she was always inferior to her sister. Molly, being the prettier than the former, was more of the cheerleader type and likes to talk about boys with her friends a lot. Meg was the smarter and has the hobby of taking pictures. Though they are the opposite of attitudes and all, they were twins.

A Summer to Die is written by Lois Lowry. She is an American writer of children’s books. She began as a photographer and a journalist in the 1970’s. She had been awarded by Newbery Medal: Number the Stars in 1990 and The Giver in 1994. Lowry is born as Lois Ann Hammersburg on March 20, 1937. Her works during her journalist days caught the attention of Houghton Mifflin and by then she wrote her first children book which is A Summer to Die. This book may be connected to the author’s real life experience but is still given a twist and different setting.

The story is about a twin that has different personalities and point of view. Margaret (Meg) Chalmers is the one who is narrating the story in this novel. She is envious with her sister Molly for she thinks that the leftover qualities and traits are given to her. Molly is prettier that Meg but she is smarter than the former. It was hard for them to share a room since they moved into the 1840 old country house than they had in their old house in the town. There they share a big room which divided by a chalk to have their own little places. Everything changed though when Molly got sick. She was brought to the hospital after her certain mood swings, grouchiness, and nuisance to Meg. She has constant nosebleed.

The author presented her ideas in a simple manner. Mainly because she had put the novel’s story at an average person’s thinking level. Every one will surely understand what was written in the book. Some part of the book may quite be impossible to be true like the exact number of students who called Meg as Nutmeg at school. It was hard for Meg to accept the fate of her sister as the story progresses.

The book has a great impact about the twins having differences despite the blood that runs in their veins. Over all it was a great book! It keeps on reminding me not to take for granted my sister and all those I love dearly.

A book review by Ma Shiela L Magistrado