To tell you the truth, I think it's about that we shouldn't get our driver's licenses till real late in life.

When you speak words that are relevant to people, they automatically shut up and you know you are in the presence of some very magical words. It's a gift when someone can listen and be quiet and not interrupt.

Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in

Friends started saying, "Oh, don't come. No vengas. It's dangerous for us, and we live here." Then there's also the issue, if you go back, and you happen to be Mexican-American, you get treated very differently [in Mexico] than if you're blond. If you say something wrong, they say, "Why don't you learn your mother tongue?"

You don't have to be the specialist on everything. You can try to inform yourself.

I know the books that I need to help me to be wiser than my years and be kinder and more compassionate and more patient than I really am.

There's a lot of people that need these stories, and they can't come to my book, so I'm going to be the bookmobile and I'm going to come to them.