7.4 /10 1 Votes7.4
Language English Media type Print ISBN 0-06-028153-7 Country United States of America | 3.7/5 Goodreads Publication date 1999 Pages 281 pp Originally published 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genres Young adult fiction, Historical drama Similar Gail Carson Levine books, Young adult fiction books, African Americans books |
Dave at night by gail carson levine book bits
Dave at Night is a young adult, historical fiction novel written by award-winning author Gail Carson Levine in 1999. This book was inspired by leading figures in the arts during the Harlem Renaissance and her father, David Carson, whose childhood was spent in an orphanage.
Contents
- Dave at night by gail carson levine book bits
- Plot summary
- Characters
- Yiddish definitions
- Comparison to reality
- Awards
- Other editions
- References
Levine bases the setting of her book in the Lower East Side of New York City in the Hebrew community. This gives her the opportunity to include the Yiddish language which is spoken by the character, Solomon Gruber.
Plot summary
Dave Caros, a teenager troublemaker, lost his mother during his birth. More recently, his father dies after falling off a roof of a house he was helping to build. Always having lived under the shadow of his older brother Gideon, he is abandoned by his stepmother Ida while Gideon goes to live with his uncle. Ida sends Dave to a Hebrew orphanage, the Hebrew Home For Boys.
When Dave first arrives at the orphanage, he absolutely hates it. The bedrooms are cold, the food is awful (and is often stolen by bullies) and the superintendent, Mr. Bloom (nicknamed Mr. Doom) is abusive and hits the boys with a yardstick. Mr. Doom takes the only thing Dave has left from his father, a wood carving of his family boarding Noah's Ark. However, Dave enjoys the art lessons and explores his talented, creative side.
Sick of the austere lifestyle, Dave sneaks out of the orphanage in the middle of the night and roams the streets of Harlem. He finds a nearby party and bumps into Solly, an old man who 'reads cards' to get money. He enters the party with Solly and discovers a whole new world of jazz music, money and glamour—the Harlem Renaissance. Dave even meets Irma Lee, a girl whom he is quickly attracted to. However, Dave needs to return to the orphanage every morning, but this new lifestyle isn't always what it seems.
Characters
A twelve-year-old girl that Dave meets during his first rent party, she is home schooled and lives in a reddish stone, three stories tall house which has well-known leisure class parties. She has a cousin named Emmie, whose rent party is the first ever that Dave attends.
Yiddish definitions
Boychik- a little boy
Landsman- a fellow Jew
Mazel Tov- good luck
Gonif- somebody who fools people out of their money
Shayneh shvartzeh maidel- pretty black girl
Meshuggeneh- a crazy person
Alrightnik- someone who forgets that he wasn't born a doctor, a judge, or a businessman; he forgets that a lot of people made it possible for him to get so high-and-mighty
Comparison to reality
Dave Caros was inspired by Levine's father David Carasso who later changed his name to Carson to be a "real American".
The Hebrew Orphan Asylum was the name of the actual orphanage that Levine's father grew up in not the Hebrew Home for Boys. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum took in boys and girls and the process to enter was done in a more legal manner than simply signing papers for the children as the book created.
The rent parties were fictional; however there were parties and salons during the Harlem Renaissance on the 1920s and '30.
Awards
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
New York Public Library Best Children's Books of the 20th century
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award 2000-2001 Masterlist (1 of 30)
"Outstanding Achievement" Honor Book for 1999 by Parent's Guide to Children's Media
One of Amazon.com's 1999 Top Ten Best Books for ages 9–12
School Library Journal Best Book
Book Sense Pick
Other editions
Denmark
Germany
Italy
France