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Dave at Night
Dave at Night is a young adult, historical fiction novel written by award-winning author Gail Carson Levine in 1999. This book was inspired by leading figures in the arts during the Harlem Renaissance and her father, David Carson, whose childhood was spent in an orphanage.

Levine bases the setting of her book in the Lower East Side of New York City in the Hebrew community. This gives her the opportunity to include the Yiddish language which is spoken by the character, Solomon Gruber.

Plot Summary
Dave lost his mom from complications during his delivery. Years afterwards his dad died when he fell off the roof of a house he was helping to build. During his father's funeral, Ida said she couldn't take care of Dave and his older brother, Gideon. Uncle Jack said he would care for Gideon but when no one wanted to claim Dave, he became an orphan. Ida packed up his things and dropped him off at The Hebrew Home for Boys (HHB).

When Dave first arrives at the orphanage, he absolutely hates it. The clothes are stiff and itchy, the teacher is lousy, there are bullies that take his food, the food he can get sucks, there's a bell that tells you when you can do something, and the bedroom is freezing. What makes matters worse is that the only thing he had left from Papa, a wood carving of his family on Noah's ark, was taken by Mr. Doom.

Dave, being the troublemaker that he is, sneaks out the first night at the orphanage and roams around in the streets. He comes across a house that is hosting a rent party, where party goers pitch in to help the residents pay their rent in exchange for some good food and live jazz music. His curiosity leads him to run into Solly and his gonif ways. Solly pretends that Dave is his grandson, which gives Dave access into the rent party and the Harlem Renaissance lifestyle. That is when he discovers that there is another world outside of the orphanage.

Major
Dave Caros: the main protagonist, an eleven year old Jewish boy known for always getting in trouble and a daredevil who becomes an orphan

Solomon Gruber (nicknamed Solly the gonif): the old white man that attends rent parties and tells people their fortune for money, he carries a parrot named Bandit on his shoulder which can repeat several words for emphasis

Irma Lee: a ten year old colored girl that Dave meets during his first rent party, she is home schooled and lives in a reddish stone, three stories tall house which has well-known leisure class parties

Mrs. Parker: Irma Lee's "Mama"; Irma Lee's real mama's cousin, she adopted Irma Lee when her parent died, her house parties are exclusive that even the prince of Sweden couldn't get in

Mike: one of Dave's buddies from HHB who has the twitches that constantly makes him jumpy, he spends most of his time drawing violins

Harvey: another buddy from HHB with the hoarse voice and the know-it-all attitude, Dave is not fond of him at first but when he finds out that Harvey has his back he feels better about him

Eli: tall, skinny boy with braces, he's been at HHB since he was seven years old when both of his parents died

Alfie: another eleven year old buddy of Dave's, he has a bad case of consumption that causes him to leave HHB and move upstate where he would be able to get fresh air and a wholesome diet to get better

Moe: Dave's older bully, he always eats Dave's food before eating his own during meals is only weakness is that he's very superstitious

Mr. Bloom (nicknamed Mr. Doom): the superintendent at HHB, his version of disciplining the boys is to beat them viciously with a ruler until they are able to get away or breaks a limp

Mr. Meltzer: he is in charge of the elevens at the orphanage

Mr. Gluck (nicknamed Mr. Cluck): Dave's teacher who lectures more on how the boys are worthless, good-for-nothings than on actual learning topics

Mr. Hillinger: the art teacher at HHB and the only teacher that Dave actually likes, he teaches Dave several drawing techniques and encourages him with art, he introduces Dave to a passion and gift that he never knew he had before

Papa (Abraham): a woodworker who made cabinets for the sultan of Turkey before he moved to New York City, he died on Tuesday, October 26, 1926 when he fell off of a roof

Gideon: Dave's fourteen year old brother who was always in the library or studying, the opposite of Dave

Minor
Mrs. Smith: one of Solly's regular customers, she's very gullible to anything Solly tells her

Ed: the janitor at HHB

Pat: the milkman that makes deliveries every morning to the HHB

Emmie: Irma Lee's cousin who held the first rent party that Dave attended

Ida: Dave's stepmother, she made lady blouses at the house before Papa's death and worked at a sewing factory afterwards

Aunt Sarah: Papa's sister

Aunt Lily: Mama's sister who lives with Aunt Sarah

Uncle Jack: from Chicago, Gideon's favorite relative who also adopted Gideon after Papa's death, he constantly has headaches and works as a bookkeeper at a printing press

Mama: Dave's mom who died when giving birth to him

Mrs. Stern: the neighbor from across the hall at the house where Dave lived when his Papa was alive

Yiddish definitions
Boychik- a little boy

Landsman- a fellow Jew

Mazel- luck

Gonif- somebody who fools people out of their money

Shayneh shvartzeh maidel- pretty black girl

Meshuggeneh- a crazy person

Alrightnik- someone who forgets that he wasn't born a doctor, a judge, or a businessman; he forgets that a lot of people made it possible for him to get so high-and-mighty

Comparison to Reality
Dave Caros was inspired by Levine's father David Carasso who later changed his name to Carson to be a "real American".

The Hebrew Orphan Asylum was the name of the actual orphanage that Levine's father grew up in not the Hebrew Home for Boys. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum took in boys and girls and the process to enter was done in a more legal manner than simply signing papers for the children as the book created.

The rent parties were fictional; however there were parties and salons during the Harlem Renaissance on the 1920s and '30.

Awards
ALA Best Book for Young Adults

New York Public Library Best Children's Books of the 20th century

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award 2000-2001 Masterlist (1 of 30)

"Outstanding Achievement" Honor Book for 1999 by Parent's Guide to Children's Media

One of Amazon.com's 1999 Top Ten Best Books for ages 9-12

School Library Journal Best Book

Book Sense Pick

Other Editions
Denmark

Germany

Italy

France