Let me introduce you to author Aviva
Gittle, when she was ten.
Mariana:
Hi, Aviva, it’s very nice meeting you. Where do you live? And who do you
live with?
Aviva: 6 Cliftwood Place, Kings Park, NY.
My mom, my stepdad Bob, my sister, our collie dogs, Kimmy and Laddie and our
Siamese cat, Muffin. Kimmy and Muffin are smart. Laddie’s pretty dumb. But he’s
really cute. He eats melon. What kind of dog eats melon?
Mariana: What’s your sister’s name? Do you
two get along?
Aviva: My sister, Barbara, is 4 years
older. I hate her. She’s bigger and
taller and mean. Every April Fool’s Day she leaves me notes that say I’m going
to win a big prize. I go all over the house reading these stupid notes and the
last one always says, “April Fools!” No prize. Nothing. I fall for it every
year. Why do I trust her? I’m Charlie Brown; she’s Lucy.
Mariana: What school do you go to? What do
you like about it?
Aviva: Parkview Elementary School. I like
playing on the monkey bars. I like gym class. Well, I did like gym class. Every
year I climb the ropes to the top and touch the ceiling. When you do that you
get to be in the Monkey Club. This year I fell. Two stories down onto hard
wrestling mats. Hurt my back bad. I don’t get to play in gym anymore. I have a
cast that starts at my chest and goes down past my hips.
Mariana: And the worst about school?
Aviva: Most of the other kids. In
Kindergarten and first grade, I wet my pants a few times. The first time was on
the playground. I’m in 5th grade now, but I still remember the kids
making fun of me. I was sick, but the doctors told Mom there was nothing wrong
with me. Dr. Waterhouse yelled at the other doctors ‘cause all they had to do
was a simple test. I had a really bad infection.
Jenn and Bev
are my best friends, but they’re not in my homeroom, so I have no friends. I’m
an easy target. My parents are divorced, my hair’s frizzy, I’m not pretty and
everyone makes me nervous. I told Mom the kids were all making fun of me, but
she just told me to ignore them. It’s not working.
Mariana: Tell me more about your best
friends!
Aviva: Jenn and Bev are both my best
friends. Jenn can draw really well and Bev…is just Bev. She’s smart and she
puts up with me. I’m different with them. A leader. I’m always coming up with
creative projects. Like the time we made these little dolls out of yarn and
sold them door-to-door. We record radio shows on my little cassette recorder. I
write the scripts and they act them out with me.
Mariana: What is the food that you
absolutely dislike eating?
Aviva: I didn’t know tongue really came
from a cow’s tongue! I thought they just called it that. It used to taste great
until I knew that. And I thought those were grapes on Grandma Pearl’s table.
They were olives! Ew; so bitter. I’ll never eat an olive again for as long as I
live.
Mariana: Do you have pets?
Aviva: Kimmy and Laddie, like I said.
They’re a bit smelly, but I let them lick my face. Muffin, my cat, sleeps with
me. He takes up half the bed!
Mariana: Are you scared of the dark?
Aviva: Very scared. When I walk home in
the dark from my friend Bev’s house, I sing John Denver songs to keep me calm.
Rocky Mountain High…
Mariana: Do you daydream?
Aviva: I daydream so deeply I forget where
I am. Sometimes I’m walking home and day dreaming and I realize I’m talking out
loud. When I was younger, the school called my parents because all I did was
daydream in class. The counselor at the school told them to tell me that Santa
Claus wasn’t real. They had my sister tell me. Bet she loved doing that. She’s
so mean.
Mariana: Who do you look like, your mom or
dad?
Aviva: Wherever we go people always say to
my mom, “That one definitely belongs to you.” I think it makes my sister mad.
Good.
Mariana: Who is your favorite star?
Aviva: Barbra Streisand. I sing her songs
all the time. People, people who need people, are the luckiest…
Mariana: What is the best book you’ve ever
read?
Aviva: The Phantom Tollbooth. Once I read
that book my mom didn’t have to pay me to read anymore. She used to give me 35
cents a book!
Mariana: Do you think you’ll ever get
married or have kids?
Aviva: Of course. Isn’t that what
everybody does? I’ll have a house, and a white picket fence, and some kind of a
job. It will all be really good.
Mariana: What do you want to be when you
grow up?
Aviva: A veterinarian. I love animals.
Mariana: Thanks for sharing with me Aviva. I
hope we can be friends for a long time!
And this is Aviva Gittle now:
I live in
San Diego, CA with my partner of 16 years,
David. I’m still in touch with both
of my best friends, Bev and Jen. I’m a grandma. Which, honestly, beats the heck
out of being a parent. I’m older, wiser, calmer and I have more time to give.
In January
of this year, I decided to self-publish two children’s stories I had written
many years ago. I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit since childhood, so I
decided to be a publisher, too. In a fit of inspiration, I wrote a whole series
(7 books) called “Kitten and Friends.” Kitten, who is irresistibly fluffy and
cute, makes a new friend in each book. A butterfly, a snake, a koi, a squirrel,
a monkey, a litter of kittens and a boy. I’ve written (or co-written) 6 other
books. All will be offered in English, Spanish and “Spanish Immersion”
(bilingual) versions. By mid-2014 I will have 42 eBooks in the Amazon Kindle
library. Several more are actively in development. I’m also starting an
animation project called “Blue Guy and Fly” with a young, talented Columbian artist.
You can find a list of my published books here: amazon.com/author/avivagittle.
Or just search Amazon.com for “Aviva Gittle.” There’s not too many of us. J
Aviva Gittle's free Ebooks, ONLY 9/5/2013...Please leave a review if you enjoyed her stories:
When I was eight I used to daydream, I played pretend and I
loved to write. I still remember my eighth birthday present and the
feeling of joy it gave me. What was it? A journal, covered in beige leather,
with a writing pad of white satin pages and a black fountain pen that attached
to the inside of my elegant and beaming new friend. Oh, yes! A world of words and stories was waiting for me...
