Strange Relations
Random House, 2007
Winner 2007 Kliatt Editor’s Choice List
New York Public Library Best Books for the
Teen Age 2008
Sydney Taylor Award
Bank Street College list of Best Books for 2008
A summer in paradise. That’s all Marne wants. That’s all she can think of when she asks her parents permission to spend the summer in Hawaii with Aunt Carole and her family.
But Marne quickly realizes her visit isn’t going to be just about learning to surf and morning runs along the beach, despite the cute surfer boy she keeps bumping into. For one thing, Aunt Carole isn’t even Aunt Carole anymore—she’s Aunt Chaya, married to a Chasidic rabbi and deeply rooted in her religious community. Nothing could be more foreign to Marne, and fitting into this new culture—and house full of kids—is a challenge. But as she settles into her newfound family’s daily routine, she begins to think about spirituality, identity, and finding a place in the world in a way she never has before.
This rich novel is a window into a different life and gets to the very heart of faith, identity, and family ties.
The Goodness Gene
Dutton, 2005
Nominee, Georgia Peach Award
New York Public Library “Books For The Teen
Age 2006″
California Collections Choice
Will has been trained since birth to promote The Goodness, his father’s program to maintain order in the Dominion. Now that he is sixteen,Will is sent to witness firsthand the synthetic production of food and humans, and the euthanasia program that the authorities call Compassionate Removal.The more Will sees, the more he questions his role. When Will discovers the shocking truth about himself—that he is the clone of a twentieth-century despot—he realizes that the future of the world lies in his hands.
This suspenseful, innovative novel raises fascinating questions about whether our behavior is determined by DNA, upbringing, or a higher power.
Room In The Heart
Dutton, 2003; Notable Social Studies Trade
Book for Young People
Scholastic Book Club
German Rights
Told from several points of view, this novel reveals how life in Copenhagen was soiled by the Nazi occupation and how the Danes fought back with courage and kindness. Julie lives with the constant, nagging fear that her family will be sent to a concentration camp. Niels can’t stand the brutish, arrogant Nazi soldiers and finds himself drawn to the Danish resistance. When Niels learns of the Nazi plot to round up all of Copenhagen’s Jews, he is dominated by a single thought: rescue. Julie wonders how she will endure so many good-byes, especially to Niels. This riveting read is based on the true story of how thousands of Denmark’s Jews were saved from the Nazis.
Clem’s Chances
Orchard/Scholastic 2001
In 1860, after his mother and baby sister die, fourteen-year-old Clem embarks on a cross-country trip to find his father, who has set out for the California gold rush. Along the way, Clem earns money by working at various jobs, including stable boy and rider for the Pony Express.
Dream Freedom
Harcourt, 2000
Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book for
Children
Notable Children’s Trade Book
in the Field of Social Studies
Slavery still exists in some parts of the world, even in the year 2000. In Sudan, tens of thousands of men, women, and children of the Dinka and Nuba tribes are regularly captured, taken from their homes and families, and forced into hard labor.
Based on a true story and real-life contemporary events, this novel tells how a group of students in Denver, Colorado, learns of the atrocities in Sudan, and how they begin to make a difference–raising money to “redeem” slaves and educating others about this dire situation. Award-winning author Sonia Levitin juxtaposes the safe and secure world of an American classroom with the severe hardship of the Dinka people, making Dream Freedom a book that will raise consciousness around the world.
The Cure
Harcourt Brace, 1999; Harper/Trophy Paperback 2000
2005 California Readers Collection
German Rights
ABA Pick Of The List
Recorded Books
Branded a deviant–and therefore a threat–to the utopian society of Conformity, Harmony, and Tranquility that exists in the year 2407, Gemm 16884 is given the choice between being recycled or undergoing a painful and mysterious cure. Gemm chooses the cure, and suddenly finds himself living the life of Johannes, a 16-year-old Jewish musician in Strausbourg, Germany, in 1348, at the onset of the Black Death. As the pestilence spreads, the townspeople begin to accuse the Jews of causing the disease. Surrounded by hatred and horror, Johannes struggles to hold on to his family and faith as well as his belief in the basic goodness of human beings. But can he return to the future and become Gemm again after having known such emotions as pain and love?
The Singing Mountain
Simon and Schuster 1998
Sydney Taylor Honor Book
Bank Street College Best Books of 1998
Two cousins, Carlie and Mitch, come to know each other better as their lives converge in Israel, where Mitch has gone to study. Now, despite his family’s concerns, he doesn’t want to leave and Carlie, at first worried, comes round to understanding why Mitch feels he must take this bold step.
Yesterday’s Child
Simon & Schuster 1997
Finalist, Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award
NY Public Library Books for the Teen Age
“Time will help. Time will heal.”
That’s what people promised. But for Laura, nothing is helping or healing. Her mother’s death has left a void in her. It’s made Laura realize she hardly knew her mother, and that can never be fixed. So Laura lies in her mother’s bed, puts on her lipstick, reads her letters — anything to answer Laura’s questions and end her unbearable loneliness.
Then Laura finds a letter that raises more questions than it answers. Written the day before her mother’s death, it’s addressed to someone named Megan and speakes vaguely of “forgiveness.” Laura’s never heard of Megan, but Megan and Laura’s mother appear to have been childhood friends who hadn’t spoken in twenty-five years. What would prompt her mother to write Megan now? And what did she mean by “forgiveness”? If Laura can unveil the mystery behind the letter, maybe she’ll also unveil the mystery that was — and still is — her mother.
But Laura’s search for answers becomes an obsession. Laura can’t stop, not until she knows the truth about everything — even if it kills her.
Evil Encounter
Simon and Schuster, 1996
Parents’ Choice Honor Book
NY Public Library Books for the Teen Age List
Best of the Best Fiction – Pennsylvania
Librarians Association.
Almost immediately, Michelle was entranced by Luke, the handsome, charismatic leader of her therapy group. But on a weekend retreat, everything Michelle felt or thought abut Luke is shattered, and now she must uncover the truth about him–and herself–or she’ll lose all that she’s gained.
Escape From Egypt
Little Brown & Co., 1994; Puffin Paperback, Blackstone Audio Rts.
1994 National Conference of Christians and Jews
Recommended List
Mirrors and Windows: Seeing the Human Family
Booklist Editors Choice
YALSA Best Books For Young Adults 1995 List
Voice of Youth Advocates Outstanding Books, 1994
New York Public Library 1995 Books for The Teen Age List
Nominee, South Carolina Junior Book Award
Nominee, TN Book Award, YA Category, 1998-9
When Moses comes to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, Jesse, a Hebrew slave, finds his life changed by his growing faith in God and his attraction to the half-Egyptian, half-Syrian Jennat. Reprint.AB.
Adam’s War
Dial, 1994
California Readers 2000 Collection
When Adam and his friends find an abandoned shack, they think it will make a great clubhouse for the Angels club. Before they can use it, a rival gang sneaks in and takes over the shack. Upset and angry, the Angels declare war on the gang. Distinguished author Sonia Levitin once again perfectly captures the voice of adolescence in this bittersweet story of growing up.
Annie’s Promise
Atheneum, 1993
1993 Riverside County Author’s Award
American Booksellers Pick Of The Lists
Nominee Georgia State Award
The Platt family, driven from their home in Germany by WWII, struggles to adapt to their new life as Americans. For 12-year-old Annie, there’s the additional challenge of establishing her independence from her old-fashioned parents. When Annie is invited to attend a summer camp in the California mountains, it’s a chance for her to find her own identity–and to discover some surprising strengths and flaws in herself and in her family.
The Golem And The Dragon Girl
Dial, 1993; Fawcett Paperback
1993, Kansas State Reading Circle Selection
YALSA Recommended Book for Reluctant
Young Adult Readers
Laurel Wang knows that the ghost of her beloved great-grandfather lives in the oak tree outside her house. But now her grandparents are arriving from China, and the family must move to a bigger place, leaving the protective spirit behind.
Twelve-year-old Jonathan and his family are moving into Laurel’s house — and he’s not too happy either. He’s living with a stepfather he can’t stand and a dog he didn’t choose; now he has to say goodbye to his old neighborhood and his wonderful Uncle Jake.
But moving blues soon give way to angry ghosts, fortune cookies that predict the future, and a very scary accident, as the two teenagers with very different backgrounds join together to investigate a mystery and in the process discover something remarkable about each other.
Silver Days
Atheneum, 1989; Aladdin Paperback
German Rights 1989
ALA-YASD Best Book for Young Adults
Nominee for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award
Finalist, Jefferson Cup Award Honor Book
Jewish Library Assn., Sydney Taylor Award
“Levitin does an outstanding job depicting life as it was for Jewish immigrants who came to the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. The book is written in an easy-to-read style which all types of readers can understand. This is one book that a reader will not be able to put down once it is begun”.–Voice of Youth Advocates.
Incident At Loring Groves
Dial, 1988; Fawcett Paperback, German Rights
1988 Mystery Writers of America, Edgar Allen Poe Award
Nominee for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award
Nominee for Nevada State Award
The Return
Atheneum, 1987; Fawcett paperback
Danish Rights, German Rights, British Rights,
French Rights
1987, National Jewish Book Award
PEN Los Angeles Award for Young Adult Fiction
Assn. of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Award
Austrian Youth Prize
German Catholic Children’s Book Prize
Parents’ Choice Honor Book
ALA-YASD Best Book for Young Adults
Nominee for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award
Desta and the other members of her Falasha family, Jews suffering from discrimination in Ethiopia, finally flee the country and attempt the dangerous journey to Israel.
A Season For Unicorns
Atheneum, 1986; Fawcett Paperback
Disillusioned by her father’s infidelity, Inky abandons her family to seek courage and honesty in a household operating a hot air balloon launch.
Smile Like A Plastic Daisy
Atheneum, 1984; Fawcett Paperback
German Rights
A high school senior, concerned about the fight for women’s rights, finds herself suspended from school and the focus of community debate following a confrontation at a swim meet during which she removed her shirt.
The Year Of Sweet Senior Insanity
Atheneum, 1982; Fawcett Paperback
1982, American Booksellers Pick of the Lists
Japanese Rights
Leni describes her senior year of high school during which things at home, at school, and in her personal life happen with heightened intensity.
What They Did To Miss Lilly
Harper and Row, 1981
British and Danish Rights
Published under Sonia Wolf
An adult novel written under maiden name, Sonia Wolff
When a second grade teacher is raped in her own classroom, she is victimized again by insensitive school principal, friends and police. A candid look at the crime of rape and how it affects everyone–family, friends, the perpetrator and the victim’s ability to find love.
The No-Return Trail
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981
Winner of the Western Writers of America Golden Spur Award,
Best Western for Young People.
Lewis Carrol Shelf Award.
British and Danish Rights
A fictionalized account of the 1841 Bidwell-Bartleson expedition which included seventeen-year-old Nancy Kelsey, the first American woman to journey from Missouri to California.
Beyond Another Door
Atheneum, 1977
Fawcett Paperback
Daria Peterson was usually a level-headed teenager. But a dish she won at a local carnival began to shimmer with a life force of its own, and then suddenly, the face of her dead grandmother appeared. No one believed her, of course. Not her best friend Kelly, or her mother, who was her exact opposite. And as her grandmother revealed things about her mother’s past, about love and loss, Daria began to see her mother in a different light. And with the knowledge came a growing fear–of the supernatural and her own growing psychic abilities….
Reigning Cats And Dogs
Atheneum, 1976
The humorous account based on the author’s experiences in raising two new born kittens, two grown German Shepherds and a lively family.
The Mark Of Conte
Atheneum, 1976; German Rights
Aladdin Paperback 1981
Southern California Council on Literature for Children
and Young People Award for Best Fiction
Nominee for California Young Reader Medal
When he realizes that the computer at his new school thinks that he’s two people, Conte decides to take a double course load and graduate in half the time.
Jason And The Money Tree
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974; Scholastic Paperback
Film option
When eleven-year-old Jason plants a money tree, he finds himself in conflict with both the law and nature.
Roanoke: A Novel Of The Lost Colony
Atheneum, 1973
Nominee for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award
Nominee for Mark Twain Award
Nominee for Georgia State Award
Aladdin Paperback 9/2000
Where did they all go?
Sixteen-year-old orphan William Wythers, is eager to try life in the New World. He and the other settlers face an arduous voyage and difficult months ahead on Roanoke Island, off the coast of Virginia. Yet there is a wonderful freedom in defining the rules for this new world in America. And when William falls in love with a young Native American woman, it seems that life is going to be happy after all.
But when John White arrives from England with fresh supplies for the settlement, not a single person remains. Who knows what happened? An unsolved mystery in American history comes brilliantly alive in Sonia Levitin’s historical novel about the lost colony in Roanoke.
Rita The Weekend Rat
Atheneum, 1971, Scholastic Paperback
Danish Rights
Cynthia is founder and President of the neighborhood Boy’s Club, the only girl in the group. The boys are always threatening to leave unless she comes up with new, exciting activities. Cynthia agrees to take Rita, the kindergarten’s rat, first for several weekends. The escapades involving Rita are more than anyone bargained for. Both funny and wise, RITA THE WEEKEND RAT is richly entertaining for young readers.
Journey To America
Atheneum, 1970;
Junior Literary Guild
German Rights, Scholastic & Aladdin Paperback
1970, Jewish Book Council of America, Best
Juvenile Fiction
ALA Notable Book
A Jewish family fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938 endures innumerable separations before they are once again united.