hanging out the window, Amber blew her a kiss. a lump the size of a fist clogged Heather's throat, while a breeze from th sea pushed her thick hair away from her face. tears trickled unchecked down her cheeks.

In truth, how much time do any of us really have?

I wanted to write about the third world and had the opportunity to go live in the trenches, so to speak.

You want to attach emotionally.

By using novels, I show ordinary kids confronting and overcoming great odds.

I wanted to show what it's really like for 98 percent of the world's population [in the third world]. Plus, I also see there are an awful lot of young people out there doing good things, and I wanted to give them a platform.

You know not every book has to have a happy ending, but it has to have a satisfying ending.