Behind the Book: Crispin, the Cross of Lead

Avi writes:

Like a good number of folks who live in Denver, Colorado, my family and I often go up into the mountains. It can be a very long drive, so we listen to the radio, or music, or, one of our favorites things, lectures on history, literature, or art. One day we began to listen to a series of lectures about the late middle ages. The lecturer was Teofilo Ruiz, a brilliant historian who teaches at the University of California in Los Angeles.

I found the lectures so fascinating I was sure there was a story to be told, and I began to read more and more about that time. Out of this reading I found the story that would eventually become Crispin: The Cross of Lead.

In the course of writing the book I contacted Professor Ruiz, and we became good friends. He even read Crispin in manuscript and was able to point out some historical errors I had made. When the book was published, I dedicated the book to him.

Finally, when the news came that Crispin won the Newbery Award, he was among the very first people I called to share the news.