Gail Carson Levine

Children's Literature - Naomi Milliner

Rejected by "every children's book publisher in America," Gail Carson Levine's debut novel, Ella Enchanted, won a Newbery Honor—and became a popular movie, too. This amazing success story is only fitting for someone specializing in fairy tales and happy endings. Born in 1947 to parents passionate about the arts, Levine grew up surrounded by books; she even considered Peter Pan her first boyfriend! Despite these literary ties, however, Levine spent many years in unrelated fields. Her life changed when, at age 40, she took a class on writing children's books. At least she had found her calling; it just took nine more years to get published! The kernel for Ella came about because, unable to think of an original story for class, she decided to rework a classic: Cinderella. She turned her heroine into someone whose beauty was incidental to her intelligence; someone determined to rescue herself rather than wait for a prince. In addition, Levine went so far as to create her own language for the gnomes, giants and ogres who inhabited her pages. Levine says "There's never a dull moment in fairy tales..." Unfortunately, despite the subject matter, the same cannot be said of this book. All too often, Abrams gets mired down in extraneous information, like the Harlem Renaissance, or Kant. The photos are disappointing, too—there's only one of Levine (though there's a lovely one of her dog). The quotes sprinkled throughout are all derived from other sources. My advice is read her books, and wait for her autobiography. Reviewer: Naomi Milliner