The way we started was, Alison [McGhee] said, 'Tall girl, short girl.' We had no plans beyond that.

The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.

There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.

I read my books out loud to myself because of the demands of the story and demands of language.

That you can go anywhere in America and get a book from a library is just the most amazing thing in the world. It's not a duty; it's a privilege and it's a joy. That joy is doubled and tripled and quadrupled if you read with other people.

[Our first dinner with Alison McGhee] was at Figlio's [in Minneapolis]. I know exactly what I had, because it was so good: their three-cheese ravioli. But I can't remember what I said to Alison that night that made her laugh so hard. But she got me right away and I got her right away.

I always wanted to be a character, when I worked at Disney, but I wasn't short enough for certain characters and I wasn't tall enough for others. I wanted to be a chipmunk; I think 4'10" was the cutoff.