Avi - The Library of Author Biographies by Michael A. Sommers

Two of my favorite novels to plan to use in the classroom are written by Avi: Nothing But the Truth and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. I chose to read Avi's biography in hopes to learn more about the background behind these books, but I did not learn much new from reading the biography. I had known that Avi had a learning disability, and I found this interesting relating to the population of learning disabled students that I have taught. I did learn from the biography that Avi was always an avid reader, and the literary background of his mother and father and extended family must have paved his way for pursuing authoring books. I am grateful for Avi's persistence in writing in spite of all the negative feedback he had received as a young writer. He has proved his talent at weaving a complex plot with rich characterization and gripping action. I appreciate the implied rebelliousness in some of his characters. Middle school students have lots with which to relate in Avi's books in dealing with issues of growing up and making choices. The biography emphasizes Avi's interest in historical fiction for middle schoolers. He thoroughly researches his characters and setting before finalizing his books, and he finds a lot of pleasure in the research phase of his writing process. There was limited background in the biography for the books I would like to read by Avi, but I know I can research reviews on his books before reading them. The source notes and bibliography at the end of the biography were helpful, and I appreciated the note about the website for the publisher for undated biographical information on Avi.