I know this classic children’s author primarly through his historical fiction work though he has dabbled in various genres like fantasy, realism and animal adventure.

What makes Avi’s writing so wonderful besides how prolific he is that he cuts to the human emotions and carefully builds his suspense even in the day to day life on a prarie schoolhouse.

The Secret School tells the story of 14 year old Ida who desperately wants to go to high school but after the only teacher in her remote town on the prarie quits, there’s no school and no way for her to take the required exams. So she secretly takes up the mantle despite being underaged to educate the kids and continue her studies. Of course, several prominant adults in the town are against such a longterm deception hence the title.

Like I said, you might imagine prarie life to be boring. I mean its a town in the middle of no where with one main street and one school before the time of electricity or any modern convenience. But he keeps it exciting by focusing on those high-intensity feelings of helplessness, fear, courage and determination.

Don’t You Know There’s a War On? taps into the WWII feelings of paranoia when teen Howie suspects his principle is a Nazi spy. This bumps into more mundane revelation that he’s actually going to fire Howie’s favorite teacher who he has been leaning on since his dad’s deployment in the army. It’s a feel good story with serious themes relevant to the era of doing your part for your country, finding your mentors and the support of friends in the face of one of the biggest world events. There’s quite a bit of fear in here too as Howie fears for his father’s life and the helplessness of not knowing what is going on the other front.

The Beginning, a Muddle and an End slows things down a bit. This one doesn’t have high stakes but has the mellow candance of a Mister Roger’s show. It’s the adventure of a snail and ant as they journey to the end offering philosphical thoughts on what makes an end or a beginning as well as helping their neighbors and friends.

Poppy follows the vein of The Rats of NIHM but that’s fine with me. It follows the story of the titular mouse, Poppy as she and her family relocate from their farmhouse after the ruthless owl, Mr. Ocax kills her boyfriend, Ragweed. The owl chases them down on their perilous journey through the forest as they encounter more dangers and several allies. As you can tell, it’s a rousing story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and his anthromorphisizing of Poppy and her grief almost makes you forget she’s a mouse. It’s followed by several sequels.

And that’s just the very few I’ve read of Avi’s extensive work. He’s quite a wordsmith with how he’s able to jump from genre to genre, making each world feel as dangerous and exciting and unique as he does. He’s a modern classic I think in children’s literature, you have to read at least one.