The origin of each story is unique.

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.

The trouble with boxing is that too often it ends in sadness.

I like challenges that test your ingenuity.

The hiss was now becoming a roar - the whole world was a vast moving screen of snow - but even now it said peace, it said remoteness, it said cold, it said sleep.

NASCAR logic isn't always logical.

Black people cannot and will not become integrated into American society on any terms but those of self-determination and autonomy.

Take my word for it: More people will like you if you believe that people are good until proven bad.

I approach everything in my life the same way; if it feels right, I know it.

I'm a combination of Linda Ronstadt, Loretta Lynn and Ralph Stanley.

American history is a quagmire, and the more one knows, the quaggier the mire gets.

Standing alone, photographs promise an understanding they cannot deliver. In the company of words, they take on meaning, but they slough off one meaning and take on another with alarming ease.