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.

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

There is no right or wrong way to tell a story. You have to find your own way. You can get your idea from listening, looking, or imagining. Stories are everywhere. All you have to do is pay attention.

I love words; I love the way they sound. Once I've worked on everything else, the last drafts of my books come down to how they sound.

Reader, do you think it is a terrible thing to hope when there is really no reason to hope at all? Or is it (as the soldier said about happiness) something that you might just as well do, since,in the end, it really makes no difference to anyone but you?

And so he was reading the story as if it were a spell and the words of it, spoken aloud, could make magic happen.

You can always trust a dog that likes peanut butter.