Author Gail Carson Levine recently spoke about her best-known fantasy book, the Newberry Award-winning Ella Enchanted, with members of the freshman class (2029) at Maria Regina, the renowned all-girls Catholic high school in Hartsdale, NY.
The incoming freshmen read Ella Enchanted as part of their summer reading and invited Ms. Levine for the rare opportunity to hear from the author herself. The prolific author of 26 books including her latest, Sparrows in the Wind–a retelling of the myth of the Trojan War–also shared with the students her personal journey in becoming a writer.
Following the presentation with the assembled class, Levine led a small workshop when students met with her one-on-one to discuss Ella Enchanted further and to have their personal copies of the book autographed.
Most of Levine’s books are fantasies, but she’s also written historical fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and picture books. The manuscript for her next book, The Unusuals, a historical medieval murder mystery that takes place in Winchester, England, in 1277, is on her editor’s desk now. She and her husband David and their Airedale Tess live in Brewster.
Maria Regina High School is a Catholic school where young women are encouraged to achieve academic excellence, empowered to be compassionate leaders, and enriched with the Spirit to live a life of Charity, Truth, and Service to others. To learn more, visit www.mariaregina.org.
