So many of my books, I don't want to say they have messages, but they have important things to say.

There was just a moment when things weren't quite the same, weren't quite as they had always been through the long friendship

Mama was crying, and the rain made it seem as if the whole world was crying.

I don't for one second think about the possibility of censorship when I am writing a new book. I know I am a person who cares about kids and who cares about truth and I am guided by my own instincts, and trust them.

I have learned over the course of my many years that it is a bad idea, usually, to investigate piteous weeping but always a fine thing to look into a giggle.

Take pride in your pain; you are stronger than those who have none

Making lists of reasons was sometimes a good way to figure things out.