I always say I write because I have lots of questions, not because I have any answers.

Because I write realistic fiction, I generally don't think about fixing anyone - I just think about how I want to feel at the end of the book - And I try to write toward that feeling.

Mama was always saying I was a brain snob, that I didn't like people who didn't think. I didn't know if that was snobby. Who wanted to walk around explaining everything to people all the time?

My favorite reader is one that revisits books and gets something new out of them each time.

Where I grew up, it was all people who were black and Latino, people who look like me. Now I live in a neighborhood where very, very few people look like me.

I believe in one day and someday and this perfect moment called Now.

People are going to judge you all the time no matter what you do...Don't worry about other people. Worry about you.