Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.
Ann BrasharesRiley was quiet for a minute. She gathered her blanket all around her. "Paul always loved you, Alice. He knows I know that. I know he loves me, too. But it's different." Alice opened her mouth, but nothing came out at first. "He loved me once. But I think that part is over," she said slowly. "No, it's not. It hasn't even begun." Riley took Alice's bare foot in her hand and squeezed it. "I told him, though, that he better be good to you. When you came along, I said I'd share you, but I told him to remember that you're my sister. I loved you first."
Ann BrasharesBesides being asked why I write about young characters, I am often asked how I write about young characters. How do I throw myself across the chasm of full adulthood to relive that period? I guess I donโt, really. Age is not so much a feature of your character, as the spot where you stand for a pretty fleeting time on the arc of your life.
Ann Brashares