Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.

None of this is truly happening," he said to Shadow. He sounded miserable. "It's all in your head. Best not to think of it.

Adult helplessness destroys children. Or it forces them to become tiny adults of their own.

Rules and responsibilities: these are the ties that bind us. We do what we do, because of who we are. If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves. I will do what I have to do. And I will do what I must.

She was also an adult, and when adults fight children, adults always win.

I was a scholarship minor public school day boy at Ardingly College and later Whitgift School. Then, straight into work as a journalist - a wonderful thing for a writer.

It has been said that civilization is twenty-four hours and two meals away from barbarism.