“When
I was only eleven years old, I decided to become a writer. I told this ambition
in a letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder; the die was cast. How could I go back on
my word?” – Sonia Levitin
A German American immigrant who
escaped from Nazi Germany as a young girl (her family was Jewish), she was born
Sonia Wolff on this day in 1934. She
wrote her first poem at age 8 and has not only kept her word but ended up with
over 40 novels for young adults and children.
For good measure, she added a number of plays and wrote numerous essays
on topics for adults.
Levitin began her professional
writing career as a publicity columnist for several newspapers, but after her
first novel Journey to America became an instant classic, she
began to pick up traction as a professional novelist. Her novels for young adults often featured semi-autobiographical characters. And most of her books focus
around historical events and tragedies, the theme being courageous
main characters faced with difficult challenges
who must "take
charge" in order to overcome these obstacles.
A frequent presenter on both writing
and the immigrant experience, and a longtime teacher of creative writing, Levitan noted, “Through my writing, I have made
new friends and continued to learn about this world of ours in all its wonder,
with all its challenges.”
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