With my writing, what I want to do is humanize the young people I write about.

As a child I wanted to be a professional athlete or lawyer.

America believes what's good for us is good for the world. It's very difficult to understand that that's not necessarily true.

Writers do not write what they know. They write what they can imagine.

My life is not packaged, Not tidy. There are leftover strands and jagged Edges that cut even my friends.

They take away your shoelaces and your belt so you can’t kill yourself no matter how bad it is. I guess making you live is part of the punishment.

As a kid I didn't see black cowboys on the screen. What that said to me was that there were things I couldn't do or be because of my color. What we see others like us do gives us permission to expand our own horizons.