The adolescent protagonist is one of the hallmarks of American literature.

If there was ever a time to boil up some grits it is now.

I take mentoring very seriously and I am on the board of an organization called Girls Write Now, where we match teen girls and writing mentors because it changes their lives.

Remember that the writing itself is good for you. If your story is so close to home that you are afraid to write it, it probably means you need to write it.

When you write a novel, you make other people see your imaginary friends.

I take mentoring very seriously and as a result I hardly get any work done during the school year.

This is what I have come to know: Our past is never passed and there is no such thing as moving on. But there is this telling and there is such a thing as passing through.

When it comes to memoir, we want to catch the author in a lie. When we read fiction, we want to catch the author telling the truth.

Abandonment doesn't have the sharp but dissipating sting of a slap. It's like a punch to the gut, bruising your skin and driving the precious air from your body.

My first novel, Leaving Atlanta, took at look at my hometown in the late 1970s, when the city was terrorized by a serial murderer that left at least 29 African-American children dead.

It's funny how three or four notes of anger can be struck at once, creating the perfect chord of fury.

So I placed my heart under lock and key To take some time, and take care of me But I turn around and you're standing here

It is not enough just to believe in Christ. We have to believe that He believes in us so we can believe in ourselves. That’s a sentence that deserves a re-read.

Mainstream culture is like your mom: It's always a little late to catch on and gets easily confused by technology, but it means well.

It is very difficult to get up resentment towards persons whom one has never seen.

All I know is that I am not a Marxist.

For the first few years we paid all the bills first and divided what was left as salary. Sometimes that was $50 a week.

There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.

I've spent my life following my passion.

Why is humanity so excessive in the way it does things? The golden mean seems out of fashion.

I've got a terrible memory; it's probably because I'm always concentrating on what I'm doing now.