Way back 40 years ago, Lois Lowry was able to identify the potential minefield that adoptees maneuver when seeking their birth parents. Natalie, a high school senior with a great life, sets out to find her origins with much trepidation from her adoptive parents. Well-plotted and short, her story has a twist or two, and once they come around to understanding her quest, she's got a superbly supportive family to fall back on. My only quibble is emphasis on her looks ("She walks in beauty" is her yearbook description), but her birth mother proves to be someone whose dependence on the surface provides a strong contrast. ( )

Lois Lowry, I love you.

Some of my favorite books growing up were written by Lois Lowry. "Anastasia Krupnik," "A Summer to Die" (sob!), The One Hundredth Thing about Caroline." As an adult, it has been nice to re-read some of the ones I loved before and explore newer books as well, like "The Giver." She's really amazing. Ms. Lowry, if you are reading this, I want to meet you and tell you how much "A Summer to Die" impacted me growing up!

"Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye" is a book about young woman searching for her birth parents during the summer between high school and college. Commencement is a time of beginnings, and Natalie feels she needs to discover this unknown piece of her past before starting college and her adult life.
It's classic, tug at the heartstrings Lowry. Natalie ends up learning more about herself during the journey and grows up a bit along the way.

Poignant and touching, Lowry tells a story that will stick with anyone who was adopted, loves their family, or has felt like they don't fit in. So pretty much anyone. She's that talented. ( )

A thoroughly enjoyable book about a bright, beautiful, successful girl's search for her birth parents. The search for one's self is perhaps universal to teens, and more so for teens with holes in their history for whatever reason. Lowry handles the topic of adoption with grace and sensitivity. The characters just sing- they fairly jump off the pages. Tallie is one of my favorite characters ever, and I can forgive Lowry the execrable [b:The Willoughbys|2114086|The Willoughbys|Lois Lowry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1230377198s/2114086.jpg|2119510] on the strength of this and of course, [b:Anastasia Krupnik|774623|Anastasia Krupnik|Lois Lowry|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178236105s/774623.jpg|827585]. ( )

It's interesting to read older books of Lowry's and see how much her storytelling has matured. This is a good story, but not nearly the caliber of most of her books. It spelled out the moral of the tale a little too explicitly. She even openly acknowledged the cliche of getting pregnant after only one time, but yet it was still there. The characters were strong, but overall the plot was a bit slow. ( )

This book is one of my favorites because of the very detailed description and the very complicated plot. The plot is of a girl who is just graduating from high school, she is adopted and really wants to find her biological mother. She has the summer to find her and she has no idea how to start except for the different documents that her parents received when she was given to them. I read this book and thought that it was good but that the characters were a little to stereo-typical for my liking. I am one for good character development and this book didn't have the best of it. I still really like it because of the great type of writing. She really describes the feelings of her character which I like. ( )