Nothing But the Truth: A Note from AVI

Here's a note from AVI (Edward Irving Wortis) about his novel "Nothing But the Truth."

When detectives and lawyers work on a case, they try to gather together all the evidence so as to get to the truth. That collection of evidence is called "Discovery." Discovery, was the title of this book when I was first working on it. For what I set out to do is put the reader in charge--like a detective--by presenting all the evidence pertaining to an event that happened--or did not happen--in a school. It's all fiction of course, but it reads very realistically. What's more, it asks the reader to decide what really happened in the story. You have to decide for yourself. You have to read very carefully to decide what actually happened. After all, when you're asked to swear that you will "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," every body says they will. And yet they do not agree about what happened. That's what this book is all about, the complexities of truth.

Who is AVI?

from wikipedia

Edward Irving Wortis (born December 23, 1937), better known by the pen name Avi, is a prominent American author of young adult and children's literature. He is a winner of both the Newbery Honor and Newbery Medal.

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 San Antonio, Texas. 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 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 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.