Gail Carson Levine
Encyclopedia
Young adult literature
Young-adult fiction or young adult literature , also juvenile fiction, is fiction written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents and young adults, roughly ages 14 to 21. The Young Adult Library Services of the American Library Association defines a young adult as "someone between the...
books. Her first novel, Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants...
, received a Newbery Honor
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
in 1998.
Early life
Levine grew up in Washington Heights, ManhattanWashington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed at the highest point on Manhattan island by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, to defend the area from the...
. She credits her parents David and Sylvia for her creative streak. Her father, whose childhood in an orphanage provided inspiration for her story Dave at Night
Dave at Night
Dave at Night is a novel written by Gail Carson Levine and was published in 1999. The story is inspired by Levine's father's experience as an orphan. It takes place in 1920's New York during the Harlem Renaissance. The real life model for the "Hebrew Home for Boys" was the Hebrew Orphan Asylum,...
, owned a commercial art studio, and her mother was a teacher who wrote plays for her students to perform. Her older sister, Rani, her senior by five years, became a painter.
As a child, Levine read avidly; her favorite book was James M. Barrie's Peter Pan
Peter and Wendy
Peter and Wendy, published in 1911, is the novelisation by J. M. Barrie of his most famous play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up...
, and she also enjoyed the works of Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
and L. M. Montgomery. She initially aspired to be an actress and painter, and participated in theater troupes before losing interest in acting.
In 1967, she married David Levine. She majored in philosophy at New York’s City College
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
, where she received her B.A. in 1969. She spent the next 27 years working for the government of the state of New York, mainly as a welfare administrator, helping people find jobs. She also has an Airedale Terrier
Airedale Terrier
The Airedale Terrier is a breed of the terrier type that originated in Airedale, a geographic area in Yorkshire, England. It is traditionally called the "King of Terriers" because it is the largest of the terrier breeds...
named Baxter.
Writing career
Her first published novel was Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants...
, which was accepted for publication by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. Levine recalls, "That day, April 17, 1996, was one of the happiest in my life." The book was published in 1997, and in 1998, it received a Newbery Honor. It would later be the inspiration for the 2004 film of the same name
Ella Enchanted (film)
Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre...
. The success of Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants...
made it possible for Levine to retire from government work and pursue writing full-time.
Levine's next novel, Dave at Night
Dave at Night
Dave at Night is a novel written by Gail Carson Levine and was published in 1999. The story is inspired by Levine's father's experience as an orphan. It takes place in 1920's New York during the Harlem Renaissance. The real life model for the "Hebrew Home for Boys" was the Hebrew Orphan Asylum,...
, was inspired by her curiosity about her father's experiences living in an orphanage. Levine says, "I made up my own version of my father's childhood. It's entirely fiction, but I think the character of Dave is somewhat like my father. And I think that the friendship, the intense bonding, among the boys must be close to what happened." For her following novel, The Wish, a book about popularity in middle school, Levine, who skipped eighth grade, had to do some research: "I spent a day following an eighth grade class around, and I asked a lot of questions. I also interviewed several kids about their hobbies, their classes, their opinions on popularity."
Levine, following the success of her adaptation of the Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
story into Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants...
, continued telling fairy tales with a twist in what would become her Princess Tales series. According to Levine, "After Ella Enchanted was published, I submitted some of my old, much rejected picture books to my editor. She liked one, which was then called Talk Is Cheap? But she thought it should be a short novel, rather than a picture book, and she asked me to do three more. That picture book turned into The Fairy's Mistake, and that's how the series got started." Her six short stories reinvent traditional fairy tales, looking to fill gaps in logic. As Levine says, "In Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
, the prince falls in love with the princess when he knows only three things about her: she's pretty, she's a princess, and she doesn't snore. In Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep... I give the prince a real reason to kiss Sonora even though, after 100 years, she's covered with spider webs!" Keeping with this genre, Levine also wrote a picture book, Betsy Who Cried Wolf, adapted from Aesop's fable of The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom 'to cry wolf', meaning to give a false alarm.-The fable and its history:...
.
Levine continued to write fantasy novels, beginning with The Two Princesses of Bamarre
The Two Princesses of Bamarre
The Two Princesses of Bamarre is a 2001 novel by Gail Carson Levine, the author of Ella Enchanted and several other books. The story revolves around the lives of two sisters who are very close, but as different as night and day. Adelina , the younger and fearful sister, is frightened by many...
, an original fairytale that revolves around the relationship between two very different sisters as one must conquer her fears in an attempt to save the other. Also in the fantasy genre came Fairest
Fairest
Fairest is a 2006 novel by Gail Carson Levine. It is based on the story of Snow White and set in the same world as Ella Enchanted. The kingdom of Ayortha, the setting of the story, is the neighbouring kingdom of Kyrria, where Ella Enchanted was set; as such, several allusions in the story are...
, a novel inspired by the story of Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
and set in the same world as Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted
Ella Enchanted is a Newbery Honor book written by Gail Carson Levine and published in 1997. The story is a retelling of Cinderella featuring various mythical creatures including fairies, elves, ogres, gnomes, and giants...
. Later she would publish Ever, a fantasy set in ancient times which explored mythological themes.
Levine also wrote an illustrated novel for young readers called Fairy Dust and the Quest For the Egg, which was published in 2005 by Disney Press
Disney Press
Disney Press is a department of The Walt Disney Company specifically used to produce books of various genres and for various age groups . Many of the books Disney Press produces are picture books based on Mickey Mouse and friends and other characters from many popular Disney animated features...
as the cornerstone of the new "Disney Fairies
Disney Fairies
Disney Fairies is a Disney franchise built around the character of Tinker Bell, whom Disney adapted in their 1953 animated film Peter Pan and subsequently adopted as a mascot for the company. In addition to the fictional fairy character created by J. M...
" franchise. The novel explores the world of Never Land (of Barrie's and Disney's Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
) and the community of fairies who live in the area of the island known as Fairy Haven. Familiar characters such as Tinker Bell and Captain Hook appear in the story, as well as original characters. The book was followed in 2007 by a sequel, entitled Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand. Another sequel, Fairies and the Quest for Never Land, was released in 2010.
Levine also runs writing workshops for children in her community. "I love the kids. I love doing it. It's great. It's the best thing I do I think." In her workshops, Levine created a number of exercises for the students, which led to the development of her non-fiction book Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly, a book for children about writing.
External links
- Official web site
- Official web site at HarperCollins
- Gail Carson Levine's blog
- Cynthia Leitich Smith: Children's Literature Resources, interview with Gail Carson Levine, December 2000.
- Official web site of the Disney Fairies franchise
- Books Alive - Gail Carson Levine Video Interview; HCPSS TV.