Avi (author)

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Avi
BornEdward Irving Wortis
(1937-12-23) December 23, 1937 (age 86)
New York City, U.S.
Pen nameAvi
Occupation Novelist
NationalityAmerican
Genre Children's and YA fiction
Notable works
Notable awards Newbery Medal
2003, Crispin
SpouseLinda Cruise Wright
Parents
Relatives Alan Arkin (cousin)
Website
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 the Newbery Medal and twice one of the runners-up (Newbery Honor).

Contents

Biography

Avi and his twin sister were born in Brooklyn, New York to Joseph Wortis, an American-Jewish psychiatrist of Russian-Jewish and Alsatian-Jewish descent, and Helen Wortis, a social worker. When he was one year old, 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. At his new school, 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 80 books, almost entirely for children and young adults. Along with The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, he has written books for different age groups and in many different genres including historical fiction, fantasies, graphic novels, comedies, mysteries, ghost stories, adventure tales, realistic fiction, and picture books. Avi has won awards for some of 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, Virginia, was selected as the 2009 Beacon of Freedom Award winner by Williamsburg Regional Library and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. [5] In 2006, Avi wrote a sequel to Crispin: The Cross of Lead titled Crispin: At the Edge of the World. In the third part of the series, Crispin: The End of Time was published in 2010. His most recent novels, Catch You Later, Traitor and Old Wolf were met with critical success. In 2016, a collection of short stories was published by Candlewick Press, The Most Important Thing: Stories about Sons, Fathers, and Grandfathers.

After living in Providence, Rhode Island in the 1980s and 1990s, Avi now lives in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, with his wife, Linda Cruise Wright.

Works

Standalone works

Series

Night Journeys

  • Night Journeys (1979)
  • Encounter at Easton (1980)

Dimwood Forest

  • Poppy (1995)
  • Poppy and Rye (1997)
  • Ragweed (1999) – prequel to Poppy
  • Ereth's Birthday (2000)
  • Poppy's Return (2005)
  • Poppy and Ereth (2009)
  • Ragweed and Poppy (2020) - prequel to Poppy set after Ragweed

Beyond the Western Sea

  • Escape from Home (1996)
  • Lord Kirkle's Money: Beyond the Western Sea, Book 2 (1996)

Midnight Magic

  • Midnight Magic (1999)
  • Murder at Midnight (2009) – prequel to Midnight Magic
  • City of Magic (2022)

Crispin

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<i>Poppy</i> (novel)

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References

  1. Sandra Q. Williams, American Library Association: ""Cataloging Rules"". Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved June 25, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) . November/December 2005
  2. Joan M. Reitz (2004). Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited. p. 531. ISBN   978-1-59158-075-1 . Retrieved June 26, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. About Avi Archived March 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine avi-writer.com
  4. Avi's Biography Archived January 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine . Scholastic.com (October 28, 2005). Retrieved on 2012-06-25.
  5. Beacon of Freedom Award Winners Archived June 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . wrl.org