L - Authors from A to Z Challenge

Authors from A to Z is a posting challenge hosted by 

Heather at Proud Book Nerd. The challenge is simple: each day for the month of June (except Sundays) share your favorite authors whose last name corresponds to the letter for that day.  For more info, click the photo!

How I'm participating in the challenge:

I am trying to highlight at least three authors (YA or otherwise) per letter, some current favorites, others future favorites. If I cannot come up with three, I will substitute favorite books that start with the letter of that day. If that doesn't work, then just for fun I am going to list songs that start with the letter of that day. And if that doesn't work, well, it will be a surprise!

Today's Letter: L

Lois Lowery

The Giver.  Number the Stars.  Need I say more?  If you've not read anything by Lowery, you are missing out indeed.  These two books of her's alone helped shape me as an early reader in elementary and middle school.  The uniqueness of The Giver wowed me and stretched my imagination.  Number the Stars taught me about a tough and tragic period in our history and I sought more literature about the Holocaust because of it.  Her books were always well written, engrossing, and even when the subject matter was tough or heavy, still left you with a sense that hope was never absent and people could accomplish amazing things.

Clive Staples (C.S.) Lewis

I've never read The Chronicles of Narnia.  I some how missed those growing up.  I have listened to dramatized versions of the first handful of books, and those were pretty awesome, especially the much ignored The Magician's Nephew.  Lewis was a master at layering stories with depth and meaning.  But Lewis really got to me with The Screwtape Letters.  It was one of the most challenging books to read because it is from the perspective of a demon.  The word/thought play going on in those pages is immense and sometimes extremely confusing, but at the same time it is epic.  I found myself doing several Keanu Reeves impressions when I realized exactly what the demons were saying and doing.  This work of fiction also taught me how clever demons and their master are at sidetracking the lives of humans with the most mundane methods, and now I catch myself in some of those situations and thank Lewis for opening my eyes to the very real threats to our souls and sanity that lie beyond the pages of his book.

Lord of the Flies

This book has stuck with me since I read it years ago.  Twisted and tragic and terrifying.  It is survivor with young boys and no winner and no Jeff Probst or producers who could cool down heated fights or call for medical assistance when needed.  Poor Simon.  And the boar.  It all still gives me the creeps.  But you should read it.  William Golding really nailed the savage parts of human nature in vivid scenes that keep leading down the spiral.  I will never watch a movie of this.  But you should definitely read it.