I always write with music. It takes me a while to figure out the right piece of music for what I'm working on. Once I figure it out, that's the only thing I'll play.

I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults.

There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.

Once upon a time," he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him.

There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.

When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.

Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.

The undoing is almost always more difficult than the doing.

You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.

It is important that you say what you mean to say. Time is too short. You must speak the words that matter.

The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.

In a Pyongyang restaurant, don't ever ask for a doggie bag.

Revive your inner spirit! Break free from all things weighing you down, grab hold of your strong rope and lift yourself out of hopelessness!

The world is a dangerous place to live

Only by zealously guarding the rights of the most humble, the most unorthodox, and the most despised among us can freedom flourish and endure in our land.

If only Vivien Leigh had stayed in England, that part would have been mine.

I am sincere, ma petite, even when I lie.

If there are only you and the music in the room, it means that there are two persons in the room! Music is a live being!

You can't love anyone that way more than once in a lifetime. It's too hard and it hurts too much when it ends.

So we die before our own eyes; so we see some chapters of our lives come to their natural end.

Sometimes ideas feel like they were already there, and that you're just discovering them.