Behind the Book: Don't You Know There's a War On?

Avi writes:

It was a school assignment for one of my kids: “Interview someone who was around during World War Two and ask them what they remember.” When my boy found out I qualified, he was astonished. But as I talked to him about those times—I was four years old when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place—I began to remember more and more. I started to think there was a story in all those memories.

When the book was first written, I went to my boy’s class and read the opening chapters. I was informed, at home, that the kids thought the first couple of chapters were boring. I rewrote them. Writers get help from many different places.