"Dave at Night" by Gail Carson Levine

Gail Carson Levine departs from her girl-centered fun fantasy novels here to write a guy-centered fun historical fiction novel. As a librarian, I've had a terrible time "selling" this book because the attempt to describe it "a boy in an orphanage spends his nights enjoying the Harlem Renaissance" tend to fall flat with pre-teens. I did like the book a lot. Ms. Levine strikes a great balance in description by painting a picture that you can see, but not providing "too much" detail (as my students say). The action is fast-paced and engaging and I was able to read the entire book in a relatively short sitting despite its length. The characters are diverse and engaging, particularly that of "Grandfather" Gideon. Unexpected twists, like a slightly insane art teacher who none-the-less inspires, are replete throughout the book. This is clearly a novel aimed at upper elementary, lower middle school students. The language is straight-forward and clean, the characters have life and color but depth is only hinted at. The minor stretches of reality can be forgiven as this isn't a story of a time period as much as it is about a child with a survivor's soul and the events around him. I'm glad our students are reading it in class (it is so much more upbeat and wholesome than the dark tomes we tend to foist on them) and hope the joys of this unique moment in time can be relished by them.