Kristin Sims Levine (born April 22, 1974) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

who authored ''The Lions of Little Rock'', a New-York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize winner. It is a fictional story about friendship based around true historical events of the

Little Rock Nine The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering ...

in Little Rock, Arkansas. In September 2019, it was announced that rights to Lions was optioned for development of a featured film. Levine has written other historical fictional books, ''The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had'' and ''The Paper Cowboy'', which take place during the United States' entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origin ...

era America of the 1950s, respectively. Levine's most recent book, ''The Jigsaw Jungle'', is about a daughter who discovers a family secret. Levine currently lives in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

with her two daughters.

Life and career

Levine graduated from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

in 1997 with a degree in German. She then worked as an ''

au pair An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a monet ...

'' in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Later, she became a professor of screenwriting at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in Washington, DC. Today, Levine continues to reside in Alexandria with her two daughters.

Publications

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had

''The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had'' was published in 2009 by

Puffin Books Puffin Books is a longstanding children's imprint of the British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s, it has been among the largest publishers of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world. The imprint now belongs t ...

. The novel was originally written as a screenplay. After rejections by various studios due to the cost of producing a period movie with children, Levine turned it into a novel. The story was inspired by her paternal grandfather's childhood in rural Alabama in 1917. The novel tells a story of a friendship between a white farm boy and an African-American city girl during a time when such friendships were not allowed by racist societal norms. ''The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had'' received the following accolades: * 2010: American Library Association's (ALA)

Best Books for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

* 2010: ALA's Top Ten

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults The American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, formerly Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults, is a recommendation list of audiobooks presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division. The Y ...

The Lions of Little Rock

''The Lions of Little Rock'' was published in 2012 by Penguin Young Readers Group. The novel was inspired by her mother's childhood in Little Rock, Arkansas. It tells a story of a friendship between two little girls whose friendship is made difficult because of racism in a post-segregation South. The girls are caught up in the inflamed racial divide the year after the Arkansas National Guard is called in to escort a group of nine black students, the Little Rock Nine, into a formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. ''The Lions of Little Rock'' received the following accolades: * 2013: American Library Association's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults * 2013: Amelia Bloomer Book List

The Paper Cowboy

''The Paper Cowboy'' was published in 2016 by Penguin Young Readers Group. The novel was inspired by her father's childhood in 1950s-era

Downers Grove Downers Grove is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1832 by Pierce Downer, whose surname serves as the eponym for the village. It is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The village is located between I-88 and I-55. ...

, a southwestern suburb of Chicago. The story revolves around the fears spread by McCarthyism in a communist fearing America. The novel touches on the topic of bullying and the impact of making false accusations.

The Jungle

''The Jungle'' was published in 2018 by Penguin Young Readers Group. The novel is about a young girl whose father has disappeared and must go on a clue searching adventure to find him. Ultimately, she finds her father but discovers a secret he had been keeping from her and her mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levine, Kristin *Alexandria 1974 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Place of birth missing (living people) Novelists from Virginia Writers from Alexandria, Virginia Swarthmore College alumni American University faculty American women academics 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American writers Screenwriting instructors