I make up the characters in my books, but of course my consciousness is filled with every child I've ever known, including my two grandchildren, my own kids (I had four) and especially myself as a child, because that person still lives inside me, too.

As a shy, introverted, scholarly child (long ago) I don't know what I would have done without libraries! My family moved often. I was always the new kid in town. The library always offered me my first and most important friendship: the place where I felt right at home. I still feel that way today, about libraries.

The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.

You eat canned tuna fish and you absorb protein. Then, if you're lucky, someone give you Dover Sole and you experience nourishment. It's the same with books.

Think only on the climb. Think on what you control

Things seem more when you’re little. They seem bigger, and distances seem farther.

It's just that... without the memories it's all meaningless.