I had never heard of 'young adult novels,' which I guess are about teenage gangs and the new boy in town or something.

There must be times when people look in the mirror and they realize they're 60.

I think I'm a terrible researcher. I find it very boring and frustrating, but the things you can find are better than what I could imagine. And when you find them, it's wonderful, and they don't feel artificial.

I think, like, fiction has a place to understand those things that are hardest to understand that non-fiction can't ever get at.

When someone has spent a lifetime trying to survive a death sentence, the last thing you want is your children uncovering what you have been at such pains to conceal.

If you live through the death of your child, you should be able to talk about it and let other people know it's OK to go on.

People have not given children enough credit to understand the idea of death. But I really think they do.

When it comes to jump-starting the intricate machinery of recollection, there's nothing more effective than the scent of approaching death.