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". Both 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 having
dysgraphia, a writing disorder. 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. 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. Avi has also written the first-person historical fiction novel "Sophia's War" set in revolutionizing colonial America times. 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 ==