I'm sure my first nine years have had a powerful influence on the kind of books I write.

I have been mocked by beauty, too. But it was the beauty which cost me nothing that in the end turned upon me.

It's such a thrill when an adult comes up to me and says, 'I read your book as a child and really loved it.' That's a tremendous compliment.

It wasn't so much that he minded telling Leslie that he was afraid to go; it was that he minded being afraid. It was as though he had been made with a great piece missing - one of May Belle's puzzles with this huge gap where somebody's eye should have been. Lord, it would be better to be born without an arm than to go through life with no guts.

I love revision. Where else can spilled milk be turned into ice cream?

Sitting in cold wet britches for an hour was no fun even in a magic kingdom.

My heart is heavy, she thought. It’s not just a saying. It is what is—heavy, a great stone lodged in my breast, pressing down my whole being. How can I even stand straight and look out upon the world? I am doubled over into myself and, for all the weight, find only emptiness.