Anastasia Krupnik

Lowry, Lois. Anastasia Krupnik. Houghton Mifflin, 1979. Tr. $13.95, ISBN 0-395-28629-8.

What’s it about?

Meet Anastasia Krupnik, a smart, quirky aspiring poet who documents the important things that happen during her tenth year, which is destined to be momentous.  

Find out more:

Sensitive, quirky ten-year-old Anastasia Krupnik, daughter of a published poet and college professor and an artist, both slightly eccentric as well, keeps a list of the most important things that happened the year she was ten, and an ever-changing list of things she loves and things she hates. She is determined that the arrival of her baby brother will be terrible, and places babies in the “Things I Hate” column. Some things she goes back and forth on—her crush Washburn Cummings and her parents for instance—and she decides she has a mercurial temperament.  One thing she has always hated was her name. When she find out that Catholics get to choose a Saint’s name at confirmation, she decides she will become a Catholic—until she finds out that Catholics must confess their sins (even secret bad thoughts).  When she discovers that her mother is pregnant, she feels betrayed and decides to give her new brother the worst name ever.

Anastasia is a very well-drawn, flawed and engaging character. The humor of this book is subtle and intelligent. Anastasia crafts a magnificent, modernist poem that conveys the sounds and look of creatures that live in tidepools after dark. Instead of being stunned by her gift and precociousness, Mrs. Westvessel gives her an F because the poem doesn’t rhyme or contain standard punctuation and capitalization.  In her class, directions must be followed, and she’d explained what she was expecting from the class. After Anastasia’s conversation with her father, the reader draws the conclusion that Mrs. Westvessel doesn’t understand everything she teaches. Although this book is largely light-hearted, Anastasia’s relationship and sadness about her frail and senile 92-year-old grandmother is very poignant and painful.  Anastasia also learns to recognize that she has misjudged some people in her life, including Mrs. Westvessel, who actually turns out to be very kind (albeit not the best teacher of poetry!). This is not one of Lowry’s best known works, but like everything she has written, it is a gem.  

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Humor

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 4-6

Subjects: Family relationships, Siblings

Read-alikes:

Fitzhugh’s Harriet the Spy

Series information:

Anastasia Again (1981)

Anastasia at Your Service (1982)

Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst (1984)

Anastasia on Her Own (1985)

Anastasia Has the Answers (1986)

Anastasia’s Chosen Career (1987)

Anastasia at this Address (1991)

Anastasia Absolutely (1995)

Related series (features Anastasia’s younger brother Sam):

All About Sam (1988)

Attaboy, Sam! (1992)

See You Around, Sam! (1996)

Zooman Sam (1999)