American Libraries

Booklist: For the Book Links readers, I think they'd be interested to know where your name came from.

Avi: Oh, yeah, it's very simple: I have a twin sister. And for whatever reasons, lost in the mists of time, could not, would not pronounce my name correctly or invented something that sounded like Avi. And it stuck.

Booklist: It stuck.

Avi: This is the most autobiographical of my work in the sense that it’s family, family stories. I've come to enjoy these characters very much as family. Having said that, I didn't want to bury Poppy, literally. But I wanted to find almost a metaphor for an essential ending of this story and yet with an open heart at the end. I do feel sad but satisfied. I never learned what they tried to teach you in so-called creative writing classes a "voice." I have no voice but I read all over the place. I read very eclectically and love to read. When I'm writing, simply my question is: What’s the best way to tell the story? And since I'm not wedded to a style—a voice—it evolves. I sometimes wish—and I'm the happy recipient of the Newbery Medal—that the committee would choose just the four best books. I think in some ways we would do a greater service to kids and say, "Here's what grownups thought were the four, five, six, ten, whatever, best books; maybe you can find something here that you like." So people have always complained. When I won the Newbery, people were not unwilling to tell me that they didn't think I deserved it. Truly.

Booklist: I'm sorry.

Avi: It doesn’t mean to say it wasn't to say it wasn't good, it means to say they prefer something else. We've all been given books: "Read this. This is the best book I've ever written." And you read it and you start to wonder about the person who gave it to you because it doesn't match. But one of the glorious things about reading is that there is no best.

When I visit schools kids ask, "Which is your best book?" And I say, "Well, you know, there are different categories." And probably the most popular book in terms of actual copies is True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. But if you take the Poppy books—all of them—maybe they have sold as many copies. The book that got the most positive reviews and awards, actually, is Nothing but the Truth. One of my favorites is The Barn, which has won no awards. It scares people, that book; it's too painful for them. I don't know. I hope I haven't written my best book yet.