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

Nobody gets to pick what life gives them

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

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.

I think that hurting gives us a way to measure being happy. How can you know one without knowing the other.

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.

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