I'm a retired librarian, Mrs. Levine, and I am at a loss to tell you how much "Dave at Night" means to me. I lived many of my teen years in a Jewish residence for boys in Philadelphia. While it was not quite an orphanage in that many of us had a living parent, it was a place where one had to watch his back--but from the many troubled boys, rather than the staff.

Reading the adventures of Dave has brought back so many of the previously somewhat buried events that I often have to put the book down just to calm myself.

So, Buddy/Author, you have managed to move and totally involve someone who doesn't often find YA lit that appeals.

Thanks ... and z'ai gezint.

Bob

Hello Ms Levine,

Greetings from New Zealand. I was listening to "Ella Enchanted" read by Eden Riegel -- whom I had to look up on Wikipedia, as I hadn't heard of her and so knew nothing about her. I couldn't believe that such a young voice could be such an accomplished reader. When I was eleven or thereabouts -- in boarding school -- I was usually required to read to the other kids because of my ability to read at an insane speed, i.e., two chapters for the price of one. So I thoroughly enjoyed this particular reading, even though I noticed later that, as a performance, it apparently doesn't even rate a mention on Ms Riegel's website. Anyway, she was about 17 when she performed this reading and had been a child actress for a decade or so, in the class of Natalie Portman, if I understood that right. So, small wonder. Looking at the sample pages of the book here somewhere, I noticed that you write, indeed, those very short, Kurt Vonnegut-type of sentences, a fact, which had not been as apparent to me when listening to the story. Well, I was listening to Eden Riegel's voice and kind of waiting for her to set a foot wrong, but she never did. There were one or two small instances where I felt I could hear the editor -- the person who must have edited your manuscript -- and I always feel that editors in America leave a heavy footprint on any author's writing. For example, when Ella at some point notices "evidence of mice", I felt that you, as the author, MAY have said something like "there were mouse droppings all over the place" -- then again, you may not have, as euphemistic circumscriptions seem to me to be a pretty well-established, ubiquitous American trait. The story may have sounded different, if you had been a British writer or, for that matter, a New Zealand one. A phrase like "we delayed our first bite" may have come across as "we put off sinking our teeth into the pie for as long as we could", or something of that sort. Nevertheless, I was overjoyed with the many RICH details of the narrative, and I'm saying this as a writing practitioner. I've been a published writer for about 50 years now, though "only" as a journalist and translator, and as you know, many journalists fancy themselves as fiction writers but never manage to scale that...fence. I was interested in the Ella story, also, because I had contemplated writing a story based on the Cinderella theme, myself, at one point. Needless to say, it was, or would have been, quite different from yours. I still have a plot outline, somewhere. Still, I don't believe there's all that much wrong with my idea for the story, it's just that being a journalist doesn't automatically mean I'd be a great fiction writer, just as being a poet doesn't mean you could also be a great playwright. The specific quality of one's talents seems to be, in each case, quite specific, quite narrowly defined. Still, as a reader or listener, I can very much appreciate the quality and the joy of a well-written and well-read story, and will seek out more of your writing, for pleasure and all the other things one derives from a text.
Best wishes,
Tom Appleton

William L.--I think the two books were SAYING IT OUT LOUD and GO AND COME BACK, both by Joan Abelove. GO AND COME BACK may still be in print. They're great.

Dear Gail,
I've just finished reading Fairest and was so moved by it! Thank you for devoting your life to writing.

My ten year old daughter, Lyric, finished reading Fairest a few days ago and I wanted to see what it was like. I just finished it and the last half hour of reading was accompanied by streaming of tears. I marvel at your skill as a writer. But more so, I am moved by your depth of compassion and understanding. I am again brought to tears as I think about treatment of Ivi. Your poems astound me as well: joyful, mournful, witty and full of soul. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And thank you for making such beauty and grace available to young people.

I look forward to reading your other books and sharing the experience with my daughter and wife.

May you continue to blessed with good health, strength, and joy for many years to come!

Cantor Richard Schwartz

Hi, Mrs. Levine!
The first novel of yours that I've read is Ella Enchanted, and wow, as soon as I read it, I wanted to read more books written by you immediately! The storyline and characters are clearly depicted in my mind as I scan through your books, the awsome lyrics of literature.
I've so far read a few and I'm hoping to find more by you in bookstores. If you could give me the name of a few which you know has your novels for sale, it really means a lot.

I hope I grow up to be an author someday, and you are my inspriation.
Please keep writing, and we'll keep reading, pleased.