I took that smile and I put it right where the hole in my chest was. It was better than coffee, or chocolate, or a perfect pirouette. I clutched it and held it tight.

It's a fact of life. Hearts are always hurting. And yet they still keep pumping.

I want to make my mark,' he says. But what target, I wonder, are you going to hit?

Everyone got older but forgot to grow up.

I took that smile and I put it right where the hole in my chest was. It was better than coffee, or chocolate, or a perfect pirouette. I clutched it and held it tight.

Sure we girls can wear pants now, and vote, and go to college, have a bank account, get a job that is not just stewardess or nurse. But we still have to deal with micro-aggressions and daily sexism. We are still fighting for word over our own bodies. We still get the short shrift on equal pay. We're still not represented in media or the arts with total parity. Not on screen or on the page or behind the scenes. It's still not easy. There is still this constant low-grade fight to be seen and taken seriously when you are a girl and when you become a woman. It totally sucks.

A shame really, because putting the right book in the right kid’s hands is kind of like giving that kid superpowers.