I hear poetry whenever I turn on the radio. Eminem is a better poet than just about everybody. He's better than Billy Collins; he's better than Richard Wilbur; he's better than me.

If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing.

I thought I’d been condescended to as an Indian - that was nothing compared to the condescension for writing Y.A.

"I used to think the world was broken down by tribes," I said. "By black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn't true. The world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are assholes and the people who are not."

Nervous means you want to play. Scared means you don't want to play.

The people who loved me when I was seven years old love my books, and the people who didn't like me when I was seven years old don't like my books.

A lot of people have no idea that right now Y.A. (young adult). is the Garden of Eden of literature.