Do you know how beautiful you are?' I shook my head 'I'm not. But you make me fell like I am.' I wanted to be beautiful. To him. For him. I didn't care how anybody else saw me. Only Ethan.

There will never be color blindness in a culture of fear.

Not even Carol knows firsthand how it feels to be hurt in such a way by someone who's supposed to protect you

I think parents should know what their children are reading, and if they truly object, they should tell their kids why, rather than summarily removing a book from their possession.

In my books my characters experience things as they are. My books allow youth an honest look at important issues affecting them. As adults we want to believe things like sex abuse or drug use are not happening anymore, or happening less and less, but that's not the case and we need to acknowledge that. We can't make life prettier for youth, but we can arm them.

Then teach me how to not care about someone who was everything to me. All I want is to know she's okay. Is that too much to ask?

Falling in love with someone is the surest highway to hurt that I know. When the door to love opens, the window to control closes.