I have always known that I wanted to work with youth through the arts and I believe the arts can help young people cope with hardship.

I teach young people how the arts can be used to stand up against injustice.

In my writing I hope to have a balance between the good and bad, the hard and soft.

Picture books are more difficult for me because it is telling a huge story in the least amount of words.

There are many writers who have influenced me and who I enjoy reading, but Lucille Clifton and Gwendolyn Brooks are at the top of the list.

For me, the lives of children and teens are interesting - they are always changing. There's just so much to sort through. All of this makes for good plots and complex characters.

one spoonful hopeone handful wooden fireone feet soilone glass of waterone man high sky one last breath in smile

When a rock transforms into a diamond, lesser stones will not speak of its beauty, but speak of its unpolishedness.

Good bands won't get famous anymore unless they get really lucky.

This generation I'm a member of, we're sort of infected by this idea that you had to make the world a better place.

are you saying that the feeling of searching for a missing sock is like searching for love ?

Maybe I should disappear and not make anymore music. I mean, I think I'd take it really badly if I got slayed.

Realistic thinking is based on what others think is possible-but they are not you and have no way of knowing your potential and purposes

Unless we give part of ourselves away, unless we can live with other people and understand them and help them, we are missing the most essential part of our own human lives.

I call my lawyer and say, 'Can I ask you two questions?' He says, 'What's the second question?'

In the garden of your days cultivate festivity, play and celebrations.