But Now, Like A Fallen Sparrow On

As A Writer, I Absorb Stories, Allow Them To Churn Within My Own Head And Heart - Often For Years - Until I Find A Way Of Telling Them That Fits Both My Time And Temperament.

There Is A Crisis Involving Reading In Certain Communities.

It Is This Language Of Values Which I Hope To Bring To My Books. . . . I Want To Bring Values To Those Who Have Not Been Valued, And I Want To Etch Those Values In Terms Of The Ideal. Young People Need Ideals Which Identify Them, And Their Lives, As Central . . . Guideposts Which Tell Them What They Can Be, Should Be, And Indeed Are.

I Would Enjoy Having Dinner With The Poet/playwright Derek Walcott.

I Think It's Difficult For Young People To Acknowledge Being Smart, To Knowledge Being A Reader. I See Kids Who Are Embarrassed To Read Books. They're Embarrassed To Have People See Them Doing It.