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Edward Irving Wortis (born December 23, 1937), better known by the pen name Avi,^[1]^[2] is a prominent 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 Zunser 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," which he adopted as his pseudonym. 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.

After he failed 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 him to reverse or misspell words.

Avi is a prolific author, having written over 60 books for young readers. He has written books for 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 lewi 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 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 lives in Denver, Colorado,with his wife, Linda Cruise Wortis.

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
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
Iron Thunder, 2007
The Seer of Shadows, 2008
A Beginning, a Muddle and an End, 2008

References

^ American Library Association: "Cataloging Rules." URL accessed 15 January 2007.
^ Joan M. Reitz, Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

External links

Official website
Avi at Scholastic's official website
Entry at Answers.com
Educational links
Lesson plans and other resources at Web English Teacher

[ALA-1] American Library Association: "Cataloging Rules." URL accessed 15 January 2007.

[Dict-2] Joan M. Reitz, Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 After he failed [[Stuyvesant High School]], Avi's parents transferred him to [[Little Red Schoolhouse|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 him to reverse or misspell words.
-Avi is a prolific author, having written over 60 books for young readers. He has written books for different age groups and in many different [[genre]]s. Perhaps his most famous books fall under the category of historical fiction, but he has also written [[fantasy|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 (book)|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 adult]]s.  In 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|Providence]], [[Rhode Island]], in the 1980s and 1990s, Avi now lives in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]], [[Colorado]],with his wife, Linda Cruise Wortis.
+Avi is a prolific author, having written over 60 books for young readers. He has written books for different age groups and in many different [[genre]]s. Perhaps his most famous books fall under the category of historical fiction, but he has also written [[fantasy|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 lewi Doyle]]'' in 1991 and another for ''[[Nothing But the Truth (book)|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 adult]]s.  In 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|Providence]], [[Rhode Island]], in the 1980s and 1990s, Avi now lives in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]], [[Colorado]],with his wife, Linda Cruise Wortis.
 == Bibliography ==