I was kind of an invisible girl when I was young.

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.

I don't mind expressing my opinions and speaking out against injustice. I would be doing this even if I wasn't a writer. I grew up in a household that believed in social justice. I have always understood myself as having an obligation to stand on the side of the silenced, the oppressed, and the mistreated.

I am always urging my students to honor their writing practice, to set up a schedule.

Adolescence is a modern construct and very American in so many ways.

Secret families are really the bedrock issue of Western literature.