Awesome Avi!

It should come as no surprise that I have ALWAYS loved to read.

Seriously. I have no recollection of a time in my life when I didn't love books and - at the risk of labeling myself an even bigger nerd than many already know me as - one of my favorite childhood outings was the library. In middle school, when reading was far from cool, I fell in love with the works of an author known simply as Avi. Many of you that were young adults in the 90's will remember with me the popular novels (that are still top sellers today) such as Something Upstairs; Nothing But The Truth; The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle; Romeo and Juliet Together (and alive!) at Last; The Man Who Was Poe; Who Was that Masked Man Anyway?; Blue Heron; and many MANY others. Perhaps his true brilliance lies in his ability to transcend genre stereotypes and write in every realm from classroom drama to suspense to ghost stories to historical fiction to action adventure. That's Avi. Favorite author of boys, girls, teachers, librarians, and even twenty something research scientists reliving their adolescent years through YA novels. ;) Before I get too sidetracked in extolling the virtues of an awesome author, I want to get back to the real point of this blog. My husband got to meet Avi yesterday! He even found out the author's real name - I won't reveal it here but let's just say it's been a question on my curious mind for the past decade and a half and is now answered! What's even cooler about this part of the story is that my super spiffy spouse got me autographed copies of a couple of novels including one of my all time favorites Nothing But The Truth! I was as excited by the books now as I would have been at the age of 11, which speaks again of the literary gems Avi's works are. Thanks to Tony for the great gift to me and thanks to Avi for the amazing gift to (young) readers everywhere!