Avi (author)

Edward Irving Wortis
Born	Edward Irving Wortis December 23, 1937 (1937-12-23) (age 73) Brooklyn, New York
Pen name	Avi
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Genres	Young adult
Notable work(s)	The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing But the Truth
Notable award(s)	Newbery Honor, Newbery Medal
Spouse(s)	Linda Cruise Wright
Partner(s)	married
Relative(s)	Alan Arkin (first cousin)
www.avi-writer.com

Edward Irving Wortis (born December 23, 1937), better known by the pen name Avi,^[1][2] is an American author of young adult and children's literature. He is a winner of both 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 Wortis, a social worker. In the year after Avi's birth, his family moved to Brooklyn. When he was young his sister gave him the nickname "Avi."^[3] Two of Avi's 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. He is also the first cousin of the Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin.

Avi's parents transferred him from Stuyvesant High School to Elisabeth Irwin High School, a smaller private school. There he studied with a tutor, Ella Ratner, whom he credits for his writing success. He struggled in school due to suffering from dysgraphia, a writing disorder.^[4]

Avi has written more than 70 books. He has written books for different age groups and in many different genres including historical fiction, fantasies, comedies, mysteries, ghost stories, adventure tales, realistic fiction, and picture books. Avi has won 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. Avi's book, Iron Thunder, about the ironclad Monitor and its battle with the CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads, Va., was selected as the 2009 Beacon of Freedom Award winner by Williamsburg Regional Library and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.^[5] At of the end of 2010, Avi will have published 71 books, all written for children/young adults. In 2006 Avi wrote a sequel to Crispin: The Cross of Lead titled Crispin: At the Edge of the World. The third part of the series, Crispin: the End of Time was published in 2010.

After living in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1980s and 1990s, Avi now lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife, Linda Cruise Wright. He has adult children.

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 cokacola : 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 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 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 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 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 Iron Thunder, 2007 The Seer of Shadows, 2008 A Beginning, a Muddle and an End, 2008 Poppy and Ereth,2009 Murder at Midnight, 2009 Hard Gold,2009 Crispin: The End of Time, 2010 Something upstairs

Notes

1. ^ American Library Association: "Cataloging Rules." URL accessed 15 January 2007.
2. ^ Joan M. Reitz, Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited, 2004.
3. ^ About Avi, section of his official site
4. ^ http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3262
5. ^ Beacon of Freedom Award

External links

• Official website
• Author Profile at Scholastic's official website
• Lesson plans and other resources at Web English Teacher

Persondata
Name	Avi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1937-12-23
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Date of death
Place of death