In seventh grade...I found a place on the [library]shelf where my book would be if I ever wrote a book, which I doubted.

I was an only child; I didn't have a sister, or sisters.

Don't stop now. Go ahead! Be readers all of your lives. And don't forget, librarians and teachers can help you find the right books to read.

Neither the mouse nor the boy was the least bit surprised that each could understand the other. Two creatures who shared a love for motorcycles naturally spoke the same language.

I wanted to be a ballerina. I changed my mind.

I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my imagination and work forward and backward from there.

Quite often somebody will say, What year do your books take place? and the only answer I can give is, In childhood.