Avi (author)

Insert non-formatted text here Edward Irving Wortis (born December 23, 1937), better known by the pen name Avi, is a prominent American author of children's books and a winner of the Newbery Honor and Newbery Medal.

Biography

Avi and his twin sister Emily Wortis Leider (also a writer) were born in New York City to Joseph Wortis, a psychiatrist, and Helen Zunser Wortis, a social worker. He was born in 1937 in New York City. In the year after Avi's birth, his family moved to Brooklyn. When he was young his sister gave him the nickname "Avi," which he adopted as his nom de plume. Two of Avi's great-grandfathers were writers, and one grandmother was a playwright. In interviews, he recalled his mother reading to him and his sister every night, and going to the public library on Fridays. Avi's brother Henry was considered a genius and went to college at age 15 (and later became a scientist).

Avi is first cousin of actor Alan Arkin.

After he flunked out of Stuyvesant High School, Avi's parents transferred him to Elisabeth Irwin High School, a smaller private school. There he studied with a tutor, Ella Ratner (whom he credits for his writing success), and found that he had dysgraphia, a condition causing one to reverse or misspell words.

Avi is an extremely prolific author. He has written books for many different age groups and in many different genres. Perhaps his most famous books fall under the category of historical fiction, but he has also written fantasies, comedies, mysteries, ghost stories, adventure tales, realistic fiction, and picture books. Avi has won many prestigious awards for his books, including a Newbery Honor for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle in 1991 and another for Nothing But the Truth in 1992. His fiftieth book, Crispin: The Cross of Lead, was awarded the Newbery Medal in 2003. As of the end of 2005, Avi has published 58 books, all written for children/young adults. In the year 2006 Avi wrote a sequel to Crispin: The Cross of Lead titled Crispin: At the Edge of the World. After living in Providence, Rhode Island, in the 1980s and 1990s, Avi now resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Linda.

Avi has two sons, Shaun Wolf Wortis (b. 1965) and Kevin Wortis (b. 1968) with ex-wife, Joan Gabriner.

Bibliography

• Sherwood Anderson's The Triumph of the Egg : and experiment in production styles, 1962 (Dissertation)
• Things That Sometimes Happen, 1970
• Snail Tail: The Adventures of a Rather Small Snail, 1972
• No More Magic, 1975
• Captain Grey, 1977
• Emily Upham's Revenge or How Deadwood Dick Saved the Banker's Niece: A Massachusetts Adventure, 1978
• Night Journeys, 1979
• American Children's Literature : A Bibliographic History, 1979
• Encounter At Easton, 1980
• History of Helpless Harry: to which is add a variety of amusing and entertaining adventures, 1980
• Man From The Sky, 1980
• Who Stole The Wizard Of Oz?, 1981
• A Place Called Ugly, 1981
• Sometimes I Think I Hear My Name, 1982
• Shadrach's Crossing, 1983
• Smuggler's Island, 1983
• Devils Race, 1984
• S.O.R. Losers, 1984
• The Fighting Ground, 1984
• Bright Shadow, 1985
• Wolf Rider, 1986
• Romeo & Juliet, Together and Alive at Last, 1987
• Something Upstairs: A Tale of Ghosts 1988
• The Man Who Was Poe, 1989
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, 1990
• Nothing But the Truth, 1991
• Windcatcher, 1991
• Blue Heron, 1992
• Who Was that Masked Man Anyway?, 1992
• City of Light/City of Dark, 1993
• Punch With Judy, 1993
• The Barn, 1994
• The Bird the Frog and the Light : A Fable, 1994
• Tales From Dimwood Forest: Poppy, 1995
• Tom, Babbette & Simon, 1995
• Beyond the Western Sea: The Escape from Home (Book I), 1996
• Beyond the Western Sea: Lord Kirkle's Money (Book II), 1996
• Finding Providence: The Story of Roger Williams, 1997
• Keep Your Eyes on Amanda, 1997
• What Do Fish Have To Do With Anything? and other stories, 1997
• Talk to Me, 1997
• Perloo the Bold, 1998
• Tales From Dimwood Forest: Poppy & Rye, 1998
• Abigail Takes the Wheel, 1999
• Midnight Magic, 1999
• Tales From Dimwood Forest: Ragweed, 1999
• Amanda Joins the Circus, 1999
• Second Sight: Stories for a New Millennium, 1999
• Tales From Dimwood Forest: Ereth's Birthday, 2000
• The Christmas Rat, 2000

• Don't You Know There's a War On?, 2001
• Prairie School, 2001
• The Good Dog, 2001
• The Secret School, 2001
• Crispin: The Cross of Lead , 2002
• Silent Movie, 2003
• The Mayor of Central Park, 2003
• Never Mind, 2004
• The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant), 2004
• Tales from Dimwood Forest: Poppy's Return, 2005
• The Book Without Words: A Fable of Medieval Magic, 2005
• Strange Happenings: Five Tales of Transformation, 2006
• Crispin: At the Edge of the World, 2006
• The Traitors' Gate, 2007

External links

• Avi at Scholastic's webpage
• Avi's Website
• Educational links
• Lesson plans and other resources at Web English Teacher