Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye

Award-winning and best-selling author Lois Lowry explores issues surrounding adoption in this poignant young adult novel.

Natalie Armstrong has everything: she’s smart and beautiful, has the perfect boyfriend, early acceptance to college, and a loving family. But the summer she turns seventeen, her search for identity leads her to finally ask some unanswered questions: Who are her biological parents and why did they give her up when she was born?

These questions take her on a journey from the deep woods of Maine to the streets of New York City, from the pages of old phone books and a tattered yearbook photo to the realization that she might actually meet her biological mother face-to-face. Coming of Age Story: On the cusp of adulthood, Natalie must confront the questions of her past to understand her future, a journey that tests her relationship with the only family she’s ever known. A Search for Answers: Armed with a tattered yearbook photo and clues from old phone books, Natalie travels from her small town in Maine to the bustling streets of New York City to find her birth mother. Unraveling Family Secrets: Natalie’s quest uncovers a hidden history and a teenage mother she never knew, forcing her to redefine what family truly means. A Poignant Mother-Daughter Story: As Natalie prepares to meet the stranger who gave her life, she must brace for a reunion that could bring either closure or more questions.