Do not let anyone discourage you. If they try: get determined, not depressed.

our finger prints dont fade from the lives we touch

I don't really know exactly how it happened but I don't like the idea that I would ever have said I'm going to write about racism or puberty or bullying.

"Summer Sisters" is probably my least autobiographical book. The whole idea started with rowing down the pond. And I heard an explosion. I don't like sudden loud noises. They scare me. And then all these people came running down the hill and jumped in the water in their finery and a bride and groom was with them, and that's where it all started.

I'm a people person. I never get tired of watching people, especially young people.

The best books come from someplace deep inside.... Become emotionally involved. If you don't care about your characters, your readers won't either.

I think people who write for kids, we have that ability to go back into our own lives.