Albert Sidney Fleischman , pen name Sid Fleischman, was a Newbery Medal-winning author of children's books, screenplays, novels for adults, and books on magic. His works for children are known for their humor, imagery, zesty plotting, and exploration of the byways of American history. Among many awards, he received the Newbery Medal in 1987 for The Whipping Boy, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Humbug Mountain, and was the United States nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1994. In 2003, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators honored him with the... Sid Fleischman Award, given yearly to an author of humorous fiction for children or young adults. He told his own tale in The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life . Fleischman was born Avron Zalmon Fleischman in Brooklyn, New York, New York in 1920. His parents were of Russian Jewish extraction and moved the family to San Diego, California when Fleischman was two years old. As a youngster, he beheld his first magic show, launching a lifelong fascination that would find a place in many of his books.
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