I have known some magnificent young people who died very young but had wonderful lives and inspired many people by their short existence.

I like to tell young people - you know one in four children die by their own hands - no matter how bad things seem, just wait a day, wait a week. Life will turn around.

For as long as the world spins and the earth is green with new wood, she will lie in this box and not in my arms.

From every ending comes a new beginning.

Sisters are made by living everyday with each other and wearing each other down until the rough spots are smooth. They're made by sharing secrets you'd never tell mom, and out of doing things for each other just because you feel like it, not because you have to. I guess you could say sisters are 'grown,' not manufactured, in a very special place called a family.

You don't know me, but I know about you...I can't make you live longer. I can't stop you from hurting. But I can give you one wish, as someone did for me.

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