BRATTLEBORO-Lynn Levine's lifelong appreciation for music and nature, coupled with her personal history of anxiety and depression, have come together in her new book, Robin's Song.
The author will present her book, envisioned for children in grades 3-6 but intended to appeal to adults as well, on Monday, Sept. 30, at Brooks Memorial Library from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
In the story, Robin, a 12-year-old girl dealing with loss and anxiety, leaves Brooklyn to live in a small Vermont town with her cousin, Darcey. Through nature, music, and poetry, the tweens bond while Robin learns valuable skills to deal with her emotions.
Levine, who has two small grandchildren, has worked with children and adults in classrooms and libraries and has taken thousands of people into the forest to share her love of nature. She says connecting people to the forest though teaching about the outdoors is a powerful way to help others feel the same love.
She is also author of Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Pocket Guide, Snow Secrets, Is It Time, Yet?, and Identifying Ferns the Easy Way: A Pocket Guide to Common Ferns of the Northeast. She is co-author of Working with Your Woodland: A Landowner's Guide.
Levine was born in Brooklyn and moved to Vermont in 1974. Four years later, having received her master's degree in forestry from the University of Massachusetts, Levine became the first female consulting forester in New England. Throughout her career, she has been passionate about protecting the integrity of the forest.
Levine has owned and operated her own consulting firm, ForestCare, since 1978 in East Dummerston. She is also owner of Heartwood Press, which publishes her books.
'A lot of skills and language to talk about this'
Levine has written two other children's books, including Entangled Roots, which was never published.
For that book, about a biracial boy from Brooklyn who came to Vermont and encountered racism, Levine says she did a number of interviews and felt she had "a true story that people who come to Vermont seriously deal with."
But, she says, "I was a white author, and I deal with depression and anxiety myself, and didn't think I could deal with the negative feedback that might come from the book's publication."
She did, however, take the seeds of that book to craft Robin's Song.
Levine's own ongoing depression led her to a Boston psychopharmacologist, who suggested she find a partial hospitalization program (PHP) that offers a structured type of intensive outpatient mental health treatment designed to address a serious mental health issue.
At the Brattleboro Retreat, she found a program that doesn't require a therapist's referral, says Levine - just proper insurance, "which is a big deal."
She attended the program daily for four weeks and "learned a lot of skills and language to talk about this."
"I felt I could write a book about the strategies this girl Robin could use," Levine says, noting that her character in the story learns how to cope when she is 12. Levine first encountered depression, which runs in her family, at age 20.
"I was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder," she says. "That means I don't get really high - just a little excited - but I do get low."
Levine also brought her connection to music into the healing vibe of Robin's Song. A pianist since childhood, she still has her piano from Brooklyn, albeit with restored lamination.
It was her own piano teacher who accommodated Levine's stress over not being able to play when distressed or depressed.
"And that kept me going," the author says. "So, in the story, Robin's teacher helps her by teaching her four-square breathing exercises."
Levine solicited some peer reviews of her work, including those of sixth-graders at Dummerston Elementary School, who read and critiqued the book.
Two young women, one age 12 and one now a Landmark College graduate, who say they "proudly deal with autism," also reviewed the story.
Three others will speak
The Sept. 30 program will also include short presentations by three other local luminaries.
Michael Clough, executive director of the Vermont Museum of Natural History in Marlboro, will speak about how nature heals and empowers, specifically focusing on the Museum's approach to working with preteens. He will also bring a live animal to the library.
Carol Crompton, education programs director for Brattleboro Music Center (BMC), will discuss how music both heals and empowers and BMC's approach to helping students deal with their emotional selves.
"A story told with empathy and compassion," says Crompton of the tale. "Robin's Song is a beautiful expression of the healing and empowering nature of music and the arts."
Poet Ann Gengarelly, who runs The Poetry Studio in Marlboro, will talk about how poetry supports the emotional health of young people and empowers them.
Robin's Song and Levine's other books will be available at the Sept. 30 event at sale prices. Payment requested by cash or check. Books are also available at her website, heartwoodpress.com, local bookstores, and on Amazon.com. If you order at the library or on her website, Levine says she is happy to sign and personalize your copies.
She is also giving a dollar for each book sold during the library event to Groundworks Collaborative.
"It's the community that's made it happen for me to be supported, so I want to give back," Levine says.
This Arts item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.