He hunched his shoulders and tried to make himself smaller in the seat. He wanted to disappear, to fade away, not to exist.

I was a sidelines child: never class president, never team captain, never the one with the most valentines in my box.

He was free to enjoy the breathless glee that overwhelmed him: the speed, the clear cold air, the total silence, the feeling of balance and excitement and peace.

I would say that most of my books are contemporary realistic fiction... a couple, maybe three, fall into the 'historic fiction' category. Science fiction is not a favorite genre of mine, though I have greatly enjoyed some of the work of Ursula LeGuin. I haven't read much science fiction so I don't know other sci-fi authors.

There is something about that moment, when literature becomes accessible, and a door of the world opens.

Fear dims when you learn things.

So actually, there could be parents-of-the-parents-of-the-parents-of-the parents?