An Evening with Gail Carson Levine

The public is invited to a special adult education program at B’nai Israel in Southbury with award-winning author Gail Carson Levine. An Evening with Gail Carson Levine will be held on Tuesday, March 17 from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at B’nai Israel, 444 Main Street North in Southbury.

The evening will include dinner, conversation and a workshop highlighting Levine’s writing and research about early twentieth century Jewish immigrants settling on the Lower East Side, the Jewish orphanage experience and the Harlem Renaissance. Gail Carson Levine is the award-winning author of the best-selling young adult novels Ella Enchanted and Dave at Night. Both books feature a resilient child protagonist who loses a beloved parent at a young age. While Ella Enchanted, made into the popular 2004 movie of the same name, delves into a world of fantasy and humor, Dave at Night is historical fiction about a young orphan facing a hapless life in an orphanage in 1927 New York City. Set against the backdrop of mass Jewish immigration to the Lower East Side, pervasive poverty and venerable yet flawed institutional care for the city’s growing number of orphans, Dave at Night explores a determined boy’s roots in Sephardic Jewish tradition, the complicated role of family and blossoming friendships in Harlem. The Hebrew Home for Boys is located on the Upper West Side of New York City and Levine weaves the Harlem Renaissance experience into her story. Borrowing settings, characters and events from her father’s real life experience as an orphan at The Hebrew Home for Boys, Levine offers a realistic and often grim portrait of Jewish immigrant life during this important time of cultural change in American history.

Gail Carson Levine, awarded both Newberry and Caldecott Honors among others, is the author of many beloved young adult novels, children’s picture books and non-fiction work, including Writing Magic. Levine’s workshop will focus on her research and writing of Dave at Night. She will share historic photographs of the Hebrew Home for Boys and talk about how the orphanage experience, harsh as it was, helped Jewish orphans survive and even flourish, and stay connected to their Jewish roots. An Evening with Gail Carson Levine, including workshop, dinner and conversation, is free of charge and open to all adults.

This program is part of a special B’nai Israel Adult Education Series entitled Roots and Resilience of the Jewish People: Exploring a Proud History and Creating a Legacy of Success. It is made possible by a generous grant from The Foundation, Jewish Communities of Western CT. Space is limited and reservations are required by calling the B’nai Israel office at (203) 267-3394.