Vanessa Diffenbaugh

The problem is foster youth don't really have this network that other kids have.

Everyone needs something they're good at. You want your kids to be passionate and figure out something they're good at.

Every second I have spare, I'm with my kids.

I have spent a lot of time with foster children over the years - kids for whom I have not necessarily acted as a foster parent.

We were pressured to accept kids we were not qualified to handle. And we do that to people all the time, which is why we don't have enough foster parents.

I've worked with homeless kids, kids in foster care, and I've never met a kid who couldn't be reached.

I'm very interested in getting inside the heads of people society discards, people on the fringe, especially immigrant kids. We dismiss them without getting into details of who they are.

My last book, 'The Language of Flowers,' I wrote completely on naptime, when my little kids were asleep.

There's a certain freedom in writing when you don't know if you'll ever have an audience.

You have to really prove yourself to young people, and if your answer is clear and consistent and loving - even if it's angry and disappointed - what's important is that you're being real and honest and not going anywhere.

I think that the hardest thing about working with young people in foster care who've been through this kind of neglect and abuse is really to convince them that they are worthy of being loved. And I think because often they don't feel worthy of it, that's why they push people away.

I love Toni Morrison and Jeanette Winterson. 'The Passion' is my favourite book.