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A “rich, nail-biting thriller”

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Sophia's WarHave you had a chance to read Sophia’s War yet? Maybe during the holidays? Publishers Weekly had this to say about the book:

Newbery Medalist Avi channels the mood, language, and danger of the Revolutionary War in this seamless blend of history and fiction, set in British-occupied New York City. Twelve-year-old Sophia Calderwood idolizes her older brother, William, a fervent Patriot soldier who has gone missing after the Battle of Brooklyn. In the first half of the book, Sophia’s desperate search for William leads her to several deplorable prisons where rebels are being held. The second half takes place when Sophia, now 15, becomes a spy who uncovers the truth about Benedict Arnold. The book is chockful of fascinating historical details, including the conditions for those stranded in New York and the failed meetings between Arnold and John André, his (real-life) British contact. Avi doesn’t sugarcoat the brutal realities of war as Sophia races to find help intercepting John André, who was also a boarder in her home years earlier and her first crush, in this rich, nail-biting thriller.

Readers Theater

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ART

Author Readers Theater with (l to r) Avi, Sarah Weeks, Pam Muñoz Ryan, and Richard Peck, one cast among our revolving players.

Have you considered doing Readers Theater in your classroom or assembly performance? It’s a fun and instructional way to get inside of a book, involving students firsthand in dialogue, action, and plot. Here’s an article about readers theater I wrote for School Library Journal a few years ago: “Have You Heard the Word? For a low-budget way to get kids wild about reading, try readers theater.“

As I wrote in the article, my “experiences led me to create Authors Readers Theatre (ART) in 2006 with fellow writers Sharon Creech, Walter Dean Myers, and Sarah Weeks. Functioning as a kind of repertory theater group with an evolving core of author-performers, we have been performing readers theater all over the country…”

Authors Readers Theater is still going strong. For information about the troupe, please visit Sarah Weeks’ website.

There are two free readers theater scripts on my website: one is for Ereth’s Birthday and the other is for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. They may be just the spark you need to involve more students in the joys of reading. I encourage you to give readers theater a try, if you haven’t already.

The Logic of Writing

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logic puzzleArtists, and that includes writers, have the stereotypical reputation for being impulsive, living and working by intuitive steps. Beyond all else there is—so it is often believed—an emotional basis to creativity. Surely some. From this writer’s point of view, what is also fundamental is rational logic. To write true, to use a Hemingway term, a story must unfold in a logical sequence of events. Crudely put, a plot is a series of cause-and-effect sequences until the ending has a logical resolution. When cause and effect are not logical, readers balk. “Doesn’t make sense.” “I can’t follow the story.” “Too many coincidences.” “You lost me.” “Not believable.” “Implausible.” In fact, there is a veritable dictionary of phrases that are used to reject stories which have no innate logic. That doesn’t mean a story can’t have the unexpected or surprises. Indeed, if the unexpected is simultaneously perceived as logical, the reader is pleased, even delighted. Just witness the enormous success of mysteries in which the logic explanation is there, but hidden. The extraordinary popularity of Sherlock Holmes is due, I think, because brilliant logical deductive reasoning is his character. Of course, to compose three hundred pages or more (or less) of logic, is anything, dear Watson,  but “Elementary.”

Writing by the seat of your pants

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flight controlsThe expression “flying by the seat of your pants” is a term that seems to come from the early days of aviation. At that time, there was little or no instrumentation to tell you how your airplane was flying, how your engines were functioning, where you were, and in what direction you were headed. So you felt—via the seat upon which you sat—all those things.

There are writers who know exactly what they are doing, where they are going, and—so to speak—all about the book they are piloting so they can bring the ship down for a perfect landing. I have written books when I have known all those things, too. Nice work when you can get it. Not at the moment. In my current project I’ll be flying on—if you will—when I suddenly say to myself, “No! Not that way. Better go this way.” Or, “Look out! You are about to crash!” Or, “You are in the fog. Find a way out!”

To continue this not-so-lofty metaphor, I am hoping that the passengers—my readers—won’t notice all these lurches and turbulence. I hope that we’ll land in the airport safely—wherever that might be. But … best keep your seatbelts buckled.

The exact wrong word

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repetitive writingWhen one writes, and one is into the flow of writing, it’s not only easy to repeat the same word, it is a common practice. I’m not referring to big, key words, but the small words that are actually more ordinary in conversational English, rather than literary writing. These are words like just, only, really, meanwhile. They could be phrases like it seemed to me, I stood there, the next moment. I’m sure you can think of many more. Their very repetitions blunt the edge of your prose, and make their use, when vital, very less meaningful. One can, and one does. go through a manuscript and pluck out these weak straws, but it’s so very easy to miss them, more so when you’ve gone over your book a few thousand times. It is here that the computer really makes a difference. Your computer can do what I believe is called a global search and bring these words and phrases right to your eyes and you can do something about them.

Long-distance author visits

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Avi Skype visitThe first time I visited with my readers in schools was in 1970. I actually can remember that time in Roosevelt, New Jersey. My first book had just come out, Things that Sometimes Happen.

Since then I’ve visited hundreds of schools. While I still do such visits from time to time (a bunch last week) and enjoy them greatly, more often I’ve been doing Skype visits. Not the smallest reason for these electronic visits has to do with money and time. It’s expensive to bring and pay an author to visit, and these days’ schools don’t have a lot of money for such events. Moreover, even a one-day visit morphs into a three-day stint when you include the travel. In contrast, a Skype visit costs very little, and no travel time is involved. Indeed, I can go to places I never could go, such as a one-room school house (three students!) on an island off the coast of Alaska, a small mining community in Idaho, or a school in Honduras.

But what really makes a Skype visit work is the class-room teacher. Teachers who set these up are enthusiastic, focused, and eager to get their students—all students—involved. Yes, there are things to learn, the basic technology, working with a video camera, dealing with technical glitches (which now and again occur). 

At their best, these visits are relaxed, fun for students and fun for me. But now you’ll have to excuse me. I have to speak to some readers in Mississippi.

A ghost in the house

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ghostI’m deep into my next book, a ghost story. “Do you believe in ghosts?” I can hear someone asking. No, I don’t, but I believe in ghost stories. I have written a few, such as Something Upstairs, Book without Words, and  Seer of Shadows. There are a couple of short ghost stories, too. 

I find ghost stories interesting, and a challenge to write, making what I don’t believe believable. Along the way I’ve learned that a lot of young readers like to be scared. I often ask them why and. although I don’t get exact answers, I get the impression that young people enjoy the intense emotions such stories generate, emotions, moreover, wrapped in the safe blanket of a book. Ghost stories are a reminder that not knowing everything means that there is much in the world and beyond that has yet to be discovered. For young people who have not taught themselves (or who have been taught) to be completely rational, ghosts hover on the fuzzy edge of reality, a place of endless possibilities. 

Avi's ghost stories

Exactly When

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journalKylee, of Madison, Wisconsin, asked me, “How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a writer?”

As it happens I know exactly when. At the beginning of 1955 I decided to keep a diary. On January the First, I wrote, “Considering this a very important year in my life—the school musical, graduation, summer, first year of college, I thought it would be a good idea to record these events … because I wish to clarify my own thinking and ideas.”

The diary has long lists of books I was reading, as well as quotes I liked: “For words, like nature, half reveal and half conceal the soul within.” (Tennyson) The pages are full of my own wise thoughts, too. “Read Plato. Not bad.” It chronicles my seventeen-year-old efforts at writing, reading, my love of the theatre, and my crushes on girls. 

On March 28, 1955, I wrote: “Well, I finally said it out loud. I intend to stay with the theatre.  In the theatre one can do everything in the world—write, build and be anything or anybody … There is so much to write about.”

I had decided to become a writer, a playwright. From playwright to writer of books for young people is a whole other story. But March 28, 1955 was the day I knew I wanted to be a writer.

Old Books

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Captain GreyI recently received a bunch of letters from a group of fifth graders whose teacher read them Captain Grey. This book, my first historical novel, was published in 1977. That’s to say it was written some thirty-seven years ago. I have strong memories of how and where I wrote Captain Grey, but in truth, I have few recollections of the book’s details, other than the general plot. The kids’ letters name characters, and recall incidents, which I’ve long forgotten. What a pleasure to know they enjoyed the book so much. In that sense, I think the book belongs far more to them, now, than to me. Still, it’s lovely to be reminded that old books are always new books to new readers. In this sense the books I once wrote have a kind of eternal youth, which, I can assure you I have not. Can you hear my sigh? I am envious of my old books!

Please Turn Off Your Book

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I had just been to a conference in Calgary, Canada, a conference set up by and for librarians. I met authors and illustrators I’d not known before. Great talk (in English and French) about books, writing, and most of all reading. I had a terrific time. But as I was flying home, and just about to land, I heard a flight attendant say to the person seated behind me, “Please turn off your book.” 

I was startled, though I had no reason to be. If there is any justification for having an e-book reader, it’s on airplanes with their ghastly cramped seats. Hauling around a Harry Potter volume, or War and Peace justifies a light, slim e-reader. Indeed, I had one with me and was using it for just that reason. 

But after being at a conference and seeing the beautiful picture books by Marie-Louise Gay, and enjoying the work of Richard Scrimger, I felt bad for young people who might only have e-books. It’s useful to recall that after Gutenberg brought the printing press to Europe, printed books were called “imitation books,” because they were not hand-crafted. So it goes: Stone, clay, papyrus, wax tablets, scrolls, codex, and the printed book. Over time texts have changed their form.

Still, the e-book is (for me) only about the ease of reading in odd places. The e (electricity) lies not the delivery system, but in the writing.