I think for real change to happen, it's going to have to come from the kids, the community, the teachers, the parents.

We're all connected by the system, and we all have to be a part, I think, of changing it.

Point of view is present in anything I write, but I really try to let the subject and facts speak for themselves.

The history of the twentieth century was dominated by the struggle against totalitarian systems of state power. The twenty-first will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power.

The federal government has more power to recall a defective stuffed animal who's little glass eye may fall off than to recall contaminated ground beef that could sicken or even kill hundreds if not thousands of people. The meat-packing industry is so powerful that it's managed to prevent the government from having this basic power of recalling a defective product.

I think for real change to happen, it's going to have to come from the kids, the community, the teachers, the parents.

Basically, I'm a perpetual student. I start by finding a subject I really don't know very much, but that I'm curious about. I learn about it through books in a library, by doing interviews with people who know a lot about the subject, and by going out on my own and seeing for myself what's happening.