Ethnic stereotypes are misshapen pearls, sometimes with a sandy grain of truth at their center. ... but they ignore complexity, change, and individuality.

I hope readers will do what I do when I read a novel I like: talk in ways that will illuminate their own lives.

We are writers. We danced with words, as children, in what became familiar patterns. The words became our friends and our companions, and without even saying it aloud, a thought danced with them: I can do this. This is who I am.

But it's important, while we are supporting lessons in respecting others, to remember that many of our youngest kids need to learn to respect themselves. You learn your worth from the way you are treated.

Don't ever confuse the two, your life and your work. The second is only part of the first.

Today is the only guarantee you get.

Grief remains one of the few things that has the power to silence us.