Art has always been my salvation.

There's something in this country that is so opposed to understanding the complexity of children.

There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready.

Parents shouldn't assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly. Kids don't. We do.

It was a very difficult time. I was working on [umble-Ardy] when my partner and friend was dying of cancer. We set up a room in the house to be like a hospital room. Eugene died, and then I had bypass surgery. I was doing the book to stay sane while all this was going on.

When you hide another story in a story, that’s the story I am telling the children.

I was a very sickly child. My parents were immigrants. They were not decorous. They were not discreet. They always thought I was gonna die.