No matter how hard you try to be present at home, you're always doing the things that you have to do.

Once there was a princess who was very beautiful. She shone bright as the stars on a moonless night. But what difference did it make that she was beautiful? None. No difference." Why did it make no difference?" asked Abilene. Because," said Pellegrina, "She was a princess who loved no one and cared nothing for love, even though there were many who loved her.

Mercy Watson was a character that had been in my head for a long time.

I've never worked with a co-author before [Alison McGhee]. Writing for me is a pretty scary thing, so it was a huge comfort to have someone in the room working with me. It became less like work and more like play.

There's nothing more fabulous than an adult saying to you, "I think that you might like this one [book]." So I'm grateful every time that happens. It's an amazing thing that people care that passionately.

A friend of mine said Winn-Dixie is the way that people want the world to be and Tiger Rising is the way that it is.

Fairy tales dont tell you that dragons are real, but that they can be defeated!