He suddenly became convinced that if he didn’t do something sensible, something to put his mind to some use, then before he knew it he would be wondering round the streets having fights with himself and inviting domestic animals to social occasions too.

Well you've been brought here against your will, just like I have. If you ask me, we're all in the same boat. And it's leaking.

The dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy

You’re my best friend, Shmuel,’ he said. ‘My best friend for life.

I think that books for young people should have serious and important themes, they shouldn't be trivial. So the books I write, they would be the kind of stories you would write in an adult novel only they just happen to feature a child at the center of them.

I was dropped by my publisher after my first two books. But I always believed in myself.

...Despite the mayhem that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go.