The sudden silence is horrifying, and it seems to catch my mother off guard. A tiny whimper escapes her, the sound amplified in the stillness. Surely, my father hears her now; surely he and I can't go on pretending she isn't crying.

It's just so much fun to make up characters, situations, and everything else about a story. I have so much freedom and flexibility to do whatever I want.

I was lucky enough not to face any required summer reading lists until I went to college. So I still think of summer as the best time to read for fun.

He looked at the piles of food again, and it was like he was seeing it with new eyes. This is wrong, he thought. Letting food rot while people die of hunger. It's evil.

I think I learned a lot from reading in general - even from reading badly written books.

I am not just what I remember. I am also what I dream.

There's something about each of my books that I'm really proud of, and there's something about each of my books that I cringe over.