I think that that's part of how people have responded to The Tiger Rising. It's what I call my dark child. It's gotten sandwiched in between two overachieving, tap-dance-performing kids - Winn-Dixie and Despereaux.

So many miracles have not yet happened.

In a dark time, doors will sometimes magically open and let us step inside to the warmth and light of a community.

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.

There's a Buddhist precept that the only thing you deserve is the chance to do the work, and I've been given the chance to do the work.

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.