What Do Fish Have to Do With Anything?

Avi, born Edward Wortis in New York City in 1937, is one of the most celebrated children’s authors of the past century and has amassed a body of work that spans more than 80 books across multiple genres and age levels. His pen name, “Avi,” was a childhood nickname given by his sister, but it quickly became the identity upon which he built his literary career. His writing is widely studied and honored, and he has received both the Newbery Medal and the Newbery Honor, among many other awards. 

Avi speaks of having a difficult relationship with school and writing; during his early years, he struggled as a student and was often criticized for “sloppy work”: difficulties that he later learned may have been symptoms of dyslexia. Despite these challenges, Avi always understood the importance of writing and storytelling, a conviction reinforced by his family. His mother, who emphasized the deep value of reading, frequently took him to the library and gave him books as gifts, nurturing his lifelong love of language and literature (“About Avi.” Avi, 2025).

This foundation carried into his adult life, where he worked for many years as a librarian. Avi has often emphasized that his family sits at the center of his life, and after becoming a parent himself, he transitioned from playwriting into children’s literature. This turn toward young readers transformed his career and aligned with his growing philosophy about the purpose of writing. Avi believes that an author’s duty is not to produce words for their own sake but to engage and satisfy readers. In Avi’s mind, he truly became a writer in the moment when he began directly considering his readers and carefully shaping each story as an offering designed to hold their attention.

Avi’s career encompasses an eclectic range of voices, styles, and settings, and he habitually reinvents his narrative voice from book to book in order to match the needs of each story (Strong, Mark. “Meet Avi, Author of Gold Rush Girl.” School Library Connection, April 2020). This high degree of adaptability is one of his hallmarks, whether he is writing a historical novel like Crispin: The Cross of Lead (winner of the Newbery Medal), The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (a Newbery Honor book), or a contemporary short story collection like What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything? Avi’s versatility allows his work to transcend the traditional boundaries separating critics from fans, and his titles have won acclaim from literary award committees and have been well-received by his target audience as well.

Notably, Avi consistently refuses to simplify the world for young readers, nor does he sugar-coat the harsher truths of society. His historical fiction embraces a range of distinct eras and settings, from the gritty realities of the Middle Ages to the hardships of seafaring life in the 19th century. Rather than baldly instructing his readers with lengthy info-dumps, he brings history to life with the rhythms of the stories themselves. He has openly stated that he is not interested in using his books to teach lessons; instead, he aims to provide intense, ambiguous, and thought-provoking experiences. Even in his contemporary fiction, such as What Do Fish Have to Do with Anything?, Avi boldly explores the darker aspects of human nature, addressing issues of moral complexity and trusting his readers to grapple with them. His ideas often spring from ordinary observations about daily life, but he shapes these kernels into rich narratives that are designed to challenge his audience (“On Avi’s Brilliant Ability to Recreate His Voice with Each Book.” Literary Hub, 8 Apr. 2021).