Teasing's part of the fun that comes before kissing

Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?

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

Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.

I don't read young adult or children's books, now that my grandchildren are beyond the age of my reading to them. I read reviews, and so I'm aware of what's out there. But I tend not to read the books.

When I wrote 'The Giver,' it contained no so-called 'bad words.' It was set, after all, in a mythical, futuristic, and Utopian society. Not only was there no poverty, divorce, racism, sexism, pollution, or violence in the world of 'The Giver'; there was also careful attention paid to language: to its fluency, precision, and power.

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