Sonia Levitin survived a difficult childhood to thrive as an award-winning children's author whose books treat difficult questions of faith and morality. Born to Jewish parents in 1934 amid the anti-Semitism of Nazi Germany, she soon fled with her...

LEVITIN, Sonia. Strange relations. Random House, Knopf. 298p. c2007 0-375-83751-7 $15.99. JS * Levitin has written many outstanding books for YAs about the Jewish experience, both contemporary and historical. Strange Relations is set in the present, and most of the action takes...

LEVITIN, Sonia. The goodness gene. Penguin, Dutton. 257p. bibliog. c2005. 0-525-47397-1. $16.99. JS It's the future (2207) and the world has gone through a devastating chaos; now a seemingly benign dictator is in charge. He has twin sons, who are approaching adult=...

The bare outline of facts about the lost colony of Roanoke is familiar. In this substantial, well-researched novel [Roanoke: A Novel of the Lost Colony] the facts are spun out and woven into an absorbing narrative in which what is known to have occurred and what could well have occurred are inseparable…. Characterization is convincing, historical background detailed, and the reasons for the colony's disappearance well within the realm of credibility.

Beryl Reid, "Early Fall...

An historical event interlaced with a fictional account of what might have happened is a popular and advantageous way of creating interest in a subject for all readers but especially for younger ones. If done properly, this type of novel allows more familiarity with the characters and content than a footnoted academic work. The No-Return Trail is done properly, and its intended adolescent audience will not be disappointed. The novel is about a covered wagon expedition to California in 1841. The journey was ...

[The No-Return Trail] is told from the viewpoint of Nancy Kelsey…. Unfortunately, what should be rattling good historical fiction comes off as only modestly interesting due to a few improbabilities (jelly made of crabapples and choke-cherries in May; poor travelers having rubberized sheets and matches) and a lot of talk taking the place of suspense. (pp. 94-5)

George Gleason, "Book Reviews: 'The No-Return Trail'," in School Library Journal (reprinted from the ...